Headlines 03 December
Mustafa’s presence returns barricades in the north (Koha Ditore)
Around 200 Kosovo Serbs gathered on Friday at the road between Zvecan and Leposavic, using a truck to block the arrival of the escort of the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, who was to attend inauguration ceremony of a bridge on Bistrica River, which connects these two cities with Serb population. The Prime Minister of Kosovo together with the KFOR Commander Guglielmo Luigi Migilietta, arrived at the destination with a two hour delay, after using an alternative road. This situation tensioned Serbs in the north, while their representatives announced that they decided to interrupt communication with KFOR.
“We went to the inauguration of the bridge, we did it, it is an argument that no one can stop us to move in our country, visit parts of the Republic of Kosovo and develop our governing program,” Mustafa said, without mentioning the problems on his way. The press release issued by the government of Kosovo does not mention the obstacles either. “PM Mustafa was accompanied during his stay in the north by the Minister of Security Force, Haki Demolli and Minister of Internal Affairs, Skender Hyseni,” notes the press release which also informs about the presence of COM KFOR and representatives of the zone. “The bridge was built by NATO with an investment of €400 thousand and connects many settlements of the two municipalities of the country,” says the press release.
“Kosovo Serb political representatives condemn harshly instrumentalisation of KFOR, which played today a political role on Isa Mustafa’s case, who visited the north without a preannouncement, and for this reason, we suspend communication and cooperation with KFOR,” says a press release issued by the cabinet of the Mitrovica North mayor, Goran Rakic.
More than municipal elections (Koha Ditore)
The paper reports on the municipal elections which are to be held tomorrow in Gllogovc/Glogovac, noting that they will be a test for the new leadership of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), electoral power of the political parties and functioning of the current election system. Early elections in Gllogovc/Glogovac will be held due to the war crimes sentence for the previous municipality mayor, Nexhat Demaku by the Court of Appeals. Gllogovc/Glogovac and Skenderaj/Srbica are PDK’s two major strongholds, however Skenderaj/Srbica’s significant development compare to Gllogovc/Gllogovac, has caused distancing of the citizens of this municipality from PDK. This is the reason why this party has launched its entire arsenal there during the last month, the paper reports.
In a separate article this daily reports that the Central Election Commission, State Prosecution and Kosovo Police announced that they have undertaken all the required measures for a regular election process and warned with punishments those who would try to manipulate with elections there.
Vetevendosje submits alibi for its activists (Koha Ditore)
Dozens of Vetevendosje activists headed on Friday the Prosecution and Court in Pristina to submit alibi with which they pretend to prove that their six activists, suspected for terrorism, including the late Astrit Dehari, are innocent. This political party requested from the competent bodies to take into consideration the evidence and release the activists from detention respectively house arrest.
Against Veseli’s initiative on Dehari’s case (Zeri)
The paper reports that Vetevendosje movement requests for the extraordinary Assembly session for Astrit Dehari’s case to be held based on the appeal of the civil society, through the petition and not based on the initiative of the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and Assembly President, Kadri Veseli. The other opposition political parties support a session on the case, no matter who calls it. They however consider that Vesli’s call for the session is unnecessary being that signatures of the citizens already exist.
Five individuals hammer coordinator of the Pannell for release on bail (Koha)
It is suspected that five individuals have attacked physically on Thursday the coordinator of the Pannell for release on bail, Bedri Duraku. Both Duraku and Kosovo Police claim that they are not aware of the reasons of the attack. They also said that they cannot give other details being that the case is under investigation. The Judicial Council of Kosovo condemned the attack considering it to be an attack on justice and requested for the perpetrators to be brought in front of the justice as soon as possible.