Headlines - 05.12.2016

• Drenas/Glogovac to head to runoff elections (dailies)
• Mustafa accuses opposition of fighting a false cause with demarcation (Koha)
• Mustafa: No one can block Kosovo’s path towards better future (dailies)
• Serbs seek to re-introduce Mitrovica border issue in Brussels (Zeri)
• Demolli: Mustafa’s visit in the north, historical (Epoka e Re)
• Djuric announces visit to Mitrovica (Koha Ditore)
• Braathu says that judicial sessions should not be closed (Epoka e Re)

Kosovo Media Highlights 

Drenas/Glogovac to head to runoff elections (dailies)

No candidate running in early mayoral elections in Drenas/Glogovac managed to secure more than 50 percent of the votes yesterday meaning that the two most voted candidates – Ramiz Lladrovci from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and Isa Xhemajlaj from the Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) – will most likely head to another round of elections in a month’s time. Although the results are still preliminary with conditional votes still having to be counted, Lladrovci is reported to have won 45.5% of the votes while Xhemajlaj won 26%. Meanwhile, the voter turnout at 40 percent is considered to be the lowest in the municipality since the end of the conflict. Most of the papers report today that the result represents a major blow for the PDK as the municipality has been a traditional stronghold of the party. Koha Ditore points out that PDK candidates are known to have won as much as 90 percent of the votes in previous elections. Under the caption PDK “crumbles” in Drenas, Zeri highlights the fact that this will be the first runoff elections in Drenas/Glogovac where so far PDK candidates had no problems in securing the majority of votes.

Mustafa accuses opposition of fighting a false cause with demarcation (Koha)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, said at the election convention of the women’s forum of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) that opposition parties are fighting a “false cause” regarding the border demarcation process with Montenegro.  He also accused certain MPs from his own party of aligning with the opposition on the matter.  “I am convinced we will be able to help our country by being united and jointly pushing forward our ideals and ambitions,” said Mustafa.

Mustafa: No one can block Kosovo’s path towards better future (dailies)

Kosovo’s Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa, took to Facebook on Sunday to highlight that last week was very important for Kosovo. “We celebrated 28 November, received a very important recognition from Singapore, ratified the IPA Agreement with the EU, and we also remembered the late President Ibrahim Rugova on his 72nd birthday. We attended the inauguration of a bridge which links two northern municipalities of the Republic of Kosovo. Despite Belgrade’s aggressive propaganda, I can proudly say that the Republic of Kosovo is firmly extending its sovereignty and strengthening of statehood in all aspects. No one can stop Kosovo’s path towards a better future,” Mustafa wrote.

Serbs seek to re-introduce Mitrovica border issue in Brussels (Zeri)

The paper reports in page seven that Serbs from  northern Kosovo have requested that the administrative border of Mitrovica be made in Brussels, because as they said, there is a risk that Suhadoll/Suvi Do might remain part of Mitrovica South. Oliver Ivanovic’s  Civic Initiative, SDP, had called for Brussels to decide on the border since it considers that Ahtisaari's Package cannot be implemented in the northern part of Kosovo. However, the EU Office in Pristina has made it clear that the issue of the boundary between the two municipalities of Mitrovica is clearly defined by Kosovo laws and has called on the mayors, Agim Bahtiri and Goran Rakic, to sign the Memorandum of Understanding. According to the newspaper, Rakic is opposing this and intends that in addition to Suhadoll/Suvi Do, to append to the north several Albanian villages as well. 

Demolli: Mustafa’s visit in the north, historical (Epoka e Re)

The Minister of the Security Force (KSF), Haki Demolli, assessed the visit of the Prime Minister of Kosovo in the north as historical. “Dear fellow citizens, I had the honor to accompany the Prime Minister of Kosovo as Minister of the KSF during the visit to the north of the country, where we  inaugurated the bridge which connects the two northern municipalities, Leposaviq and Zvecan. I consider this visit of the PM Mustafa in the north of the country as historical, because it shows the necessity to reach progress on improvement of the infrastructure, increase of communication, advancing of integration and strengthening of sovereignty of the Republic. A special appreciation to the KFOR troops for building the bridge,” Demolli wrote on his Facebook page. 

Djuric announces visit to Mitrovica (Koha Ditore)

The head of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo, Marko Djuric, announced he is going to Mitrovica North today to attend the inauguration ceremony of several selling points of the Serbian oil company, NIS. Djuric is also expected to take part in the inauguration of a Serbia telecom unit in Mitrovica North.

Braathu says that judicial sessions should not be closed (Epoka e Re)

Head of the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) in Kosovo, Jan Baraathu, said at the fourth Annual Conference of the Judicial Council of Kosovo that Kosovo has a lot of work to do in the justice system, despite the acomplishments so far. He stressed that functioning of the courts in the north will be completed in January. He also said that the courts should be open and transparent in their work. “We understand that sometimes the courts have to be closed depending on the sensitivity of the cases, because of the witnesses or other reasons. However, we encourage you to have as less closed judicial sessions as possible and only when required,” Braathu said.