Headlines - 17.10.2017

• Kosovo urges U.S. involvement in Belgrade - Pristina talks (Reuters)
• Haradinaj: Kosovo-Montenegro border is at Cakorr (Zeri)
• Serwer: Albanian passports to diminish Kosovo’s sovereignty (Zeri)
• The isolation of the heads of state (Koha)
• LDK preparing to send Thaci to Constitutional Court (Bota Sot)
• Milaim Zeka detained under suspicion for visa fraud (media)
• Jevtic calls for speedy formation of Association/Community (Lajmi)

Kosovo urges U.S. involvement in Belgrade - Pristina talks (Reuters)

Kosovo’s newly appointed prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, on Monday urged the United States, his country’s main ally, to become involved in EU-sponsored talks between Kosovo and Serbia aimed at settling their differences. Serbia refuses to recognize independence of Kosovo, its former province, but it has committed to EU-supported talks in order to accelerate its own accession to the EU bloc. Since 2013 the two countries have reached a series of agreements but few have been implemented so far and the talks themselves have been stalled since this spring. Haradinaj said U.S. participation was vital to move the talks forward. “A U.S. role is necessary for peace,” Haradinaj, a former guerrilla leader told Reuters. “We see a U.S. role at the table as an essential necessity”. The talks should conclude with mutual statehood recognition “between Kosovo and Serbia,” he said.

Haradinaj: Kosovo-Montenegro border is at Cakorr (Zeri)

Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, reiterated his position on the border between Kosovo and Montenegro saying it is at Cakorr and Zhlep. “We had a state commission but it included some papers by mistake and the international commission that came afterwards accepted them,” said Haradinaj in an election rally with residents of Rugova. He added that no one can dispute facts and that the new border demarcation commission is bound to get to the bottom of this issue.

Serwer: Albanian passports to diminish Kosovo’s sovereignty (Zeri)

In a front-page interview with the paper, U.S. analyst on the Balkans Daniel Serwer said that the request for Albania to issue passports to the people of Kosovo would diminish sovereignty of Kosovo. Moreover, Serwer noted, Albania is not likely to grant the request as by doing so it would set back its own European Union integration perspective. Serwer said he didn’t believe Serbia’s recognition of Kosovo should happen just before it joins the EU. “I think it should happen much sooner. It should not be a mutual recognition but instead it could come in the way of UN membership and exchange of diplomatic representatives at the ambassadorial level,” Serwer said.

The isolation of the heads of state (Koha)

Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has decided not to join his counterparts from the region at a business summit in Skopje and Kosovo will be represented by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Behgjet Pacolli, the paper reports on its front page. Haradinaj’s decision not to attend comes several days after two diplomatic failures, when the Kosovo government decided not to apply for membership in INTERPOL and UNESCO. The paper further notes that over the last years, heads of Kosovo’s institutions have been faced with isolation and very few EU member states have opened their doors to them. Pristina-based political analyst, Imer Mushkolaj, told the paper that Kosovo’s leaders are being isolated because they fail to do their work. “Kosovo’s institutions have failed to meet numerous international obligations and this could be the reason why key decision-making centers are ignoring and isolating Kosovo’s institutional leaders. Otherwise, Ramush Haradinaj seems to be focused more on internal problems in his first weeks in office, also due to the lack of invitations from abroad,” Mushkolaj added.

LDK preparing to send Thaci to Constitutional Court (Bota Sot)

In a press conference yesterday, officials of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) said they were preparing a case before the Constitutional Court against President Hashim Thaci for his role in local election campaign. MP Vjosa Osmani said LDK is deeply concerned with, as she said, Thaci’s involvement in local election campaign and his meetings with officials from his former Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).

Milaim Zeka detained under suspicion for visa fraud (media)

The Prosecution of Kosovo has ordered Kosovo Police to detain for 48 hours NISMA MP, Milaim Zeka, until the investigating judge decides if he should be detained or released. Economic crimes unit, which investigated fraud of 920 citizens with visas, has submitted the case to the prosecution. Daut Hoxha, from the Kosovo Police public information office, told RTK that police interviewed Zeka about fraud and avoidance of taxes. He said police will undertake further steps in coordination with competent prosecution. Zeka’s arrest happened a few days after Pristina-based news website Insajderi published investigation where Zeka was suspected for implication on visa scandal, deceiving 920 Kosovo people who tried to immigrate to Germany. According to Insajderi, they paid from 50 to 3500 Euros for a working visa.

Jevtic calls for speedy formation of Association/Community (Lajmi)

Kosovo’s Minister for Communities and Returns, Dalibor Jevtic, said on Monday that the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities must be established as soon as possible and in accordance with the Brussels agreement. After meeting EU Head of Office, Natalia Apostolova, Jevtic said an important project is shutting down collective centers and resolve the status of families that have been living there so far.