Headlines - 17.01.2017

• Thaci: Serbia planning to annex the north of Kosovo (Koha Ditore)
• Mustafa: Dialogue will not stop (VOA)
• Mogherini with a message for Kosovo and Serbia (GazetaMetro)
• NATO: Kosovo police can go to north without KFOR permission (Kosova Sot)
• Hoxhaj: Kosovo will respond to Serbia’s aggresion (RTK)
• “Serbia’s provocations should alarm international community” (Epoka)
• AAK: Train was part of plan to reoccupy Kosovo (Koha Ditore)
• Vetevendosje presents forensic results from Assembly attack case (Koha)
• Government invites opposition experts for border demarcation (Indeksonline)

Kosovo Media Highlights

Thaci: Serbia planning to annex the north of Kosovo (Koha Ditore)

In an interview with Reuters, President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci warned that Serbia is planning to annex the north of Kosovo and that the train was part of this scenario.  “Serbia’s intention is to use this train, which was donated by Russia, first to help carve away the northern part of Kosovo and then… attach it to Serbia. It is the Crimea model,” Thaci said.

Read more here: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-serbia-kosovo-president-idUSKBN15022Y

Mustafa: Dialogue will not stop (VOA)

In an interview with VOA in Albanian, Prime Minister of Kosovo Isa Mustafa said Kosovo will not employ the same language to Serbia’s threats of use of force stressing that the Serb community in Kosovo are not threatened in any way. Mustafa said that calls for halting dialogue with Serbia are wrong and that the only strategic alternative to resolve the problems is by talking to Serbia. “The other alternative to this is that of Nikolic,” Mustafa said. 

Mogherini with a message for Kosovo and Serbia (GazetaMetro)

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini voiced concern on Monday over the escalation of tensions between Serbia and Kosovo, following the incident with the Serbian passenger train, and called on the parties to engage in dialogue. According to Mogherini, the progress made over the past year by the European Union with both Belgrade and Pristina is "historical." She noted that "tensions are still high," but praised the leadership of Kosovo and Serbia for their work and determination. “My message to the parties has been to avoid escalations, try to contain both acts and rhetoric, and try to see at the common engagement through dialogue as something that is delivering for both," Mogherini told reporters after a meeting of EU member countries' foreign ministers. 

NATO: Kosovo police can go to north without KFOR permission (Kosova Sot)

Officials from NATO headquarters in Brussels said that KFOR was not informed of the deployment of Kosovo Police special units to the north. But they also added that according to the UN Security Council Resolution 1244, from which KFOR derives its mandate, Kosovo institutions are not obliged to inform KFOR for such an action. 

Hoxhaj: Kosovo will respond to Serbia’s aggresion (RTK)

Kosovo’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Enver Hoxhaj, met on Monday for an official lunch with the Ambassadors of the United States of America, Great Britain, France and Italy, as well as with head of the EU Office in Kosovo, Natalyia Apostolova and EULEX chief Alexandra Papadopoulou. During the meeting, Hoxhaj is quoted as saying that the propagandistic train that Serbia intended to bring to Kosovo is not an isolated event but part of an aggressive and extended policy of Serbia towards Kosovo. However, Hoxhaj said, Kosovo will respond to this policy by defending its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

FM Hoxhaj also later met with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Zahir Tanin (UNMIK) and stressed to the SRSG that Kosovo is committed to reducing tensions, averting escalation or provocations, and continuing the dialogue with Belgrade in good faith.  

“Serbia’s provocations should alarm international community” (Epoka)

In an interview with Epoka, head of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) parliamentary group, Zenun Pajaziti, said that Serbia’s recent actions including, the construction of the wall in Mitrovica North, reactivation of Interpol arrest warrants and most recently, the Belgrade-Mitrovica train, should sound the alarm with the international community as well as with the members of the Serb community in Kosovo. “What Serbia is doing is putting pressure to isolate even more the Serb citizens living in Kosovo,” Pajaziti said. He said the police action to prevent the train from entering Kosovo was just and necessary. “It was proof that the state of Kosovo functions,” he added. 

AAK: Train was part of plan to reoccupy Kosovo (Koha Ditore)

Officials from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) said that the Belgrade-Mitrovica train was part of Serbia’s plan to reoccupy Kosovo and that it was the duty of Kosovo institutions to prevent its arrival. “It should not have come to this in the first place,” said AAK’s deputy leader Ahmet Isufi adding that the Mitrovica North wall should also have been taken down by Kosovo authorities. “The Kosovo government should halt dialogue with Serbia until certain conditions are met,” Isufi said.

Vetevendosje presents forensic results from Assembly attack case (Koha Ditore)

Vetevendosje secretary Dardan Molliqaj presented yesterday in a press conference forensic results of electronic devices seized from activists who are being accused of carrying out an attack on the Assembly building last year. Molliqaj said none of the device was shown to have contained any evidence that would support allegations against Vetevendosje activists, one of whom died whilst in detention in Prizren. Molliqaj said these results show that the case is politically motivated and that the activists are innocent. At the same time, the prosecution said it based its case on different set of evidence which it considers to be sufficient to raise indictment against the accused. 

Government invites opposition experts for border demarcation (Indeksonline)

The three opposition parties of Kosovo, Vetevendosje movement, Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) received on Monday an invitation from the government of Kosovo, to send their experts in order to measure the territory of Kosovo. Through the invitation, that Indeksonline claims to have a copy of, the government requests from the opposition parties to name their experts by 12 January. The short deadline is set in order to start with the work as soon as possible. However, Vetevendosje movement does not intend to respond to the invitation of the government.  They said that they have not received the invitation. Shkodran Hoti, from the information office of this part said that the invitation is absurd being that the current demarcation of the border with Montenegro is dead since 1 September of last year.