• Kosnett: U.S. patience can reach an end (RTK)
• Limaj: Tariff will not be lifted until conditions are met (media)
• Isufi: Coalition is functioning, there are no new elections (Epoka)
• President Thaci’s pullbacks (Koha)
• PM Haradinaj to meet two senior German officials today (Klan Kosova)
• Phillips: Serbia has lost Kosovo, time for dialogue to end (VOA/Bota Sot)
• Kosovo courts take over war crimes cases from EULEX (RFE)
• Haziri: Swiss Ambassador spoke with good intention (Kosova Sot)
• U.S. Ambassador: Kosovo succeeds when women lead (media)
• Mikic: My dismissal, part of efforts to get rid of Serbs in Kosovo institutions (Zeri)

Kosnett: U.S. patience can reach an end (RTK)

The U.S. Ambassador to Kosovo Philip Kosnett said on Sunday that the U.S. is committed to offer support to the Kosovo – Serbia dialogue, however he does not guarantee that such determination will continue in the future if Pristina and Belgrade do not move forward in a short period of time.

“Our patience always has a limit. One of the things that we told both governments in Pristina and Belgrade about is that the U.S. are committed to offer support for the process. President Trump as it is known, wrote to President Thaci and President Vucic, to highlight that the U.S. Government is completely committed to the process,” he said. However, he added that he cannot guarantee that Washington will be equally committed in the future.

“What we said, what U.S. government said is that we think that 2019 is the year when Kosovo and Serbia should reach the comprehensive agreement. And in order to reach the agreement in 2019, all should return to the table of discussions and see developments as soon as possible. I do not want for you to relate the process with any fixed dates,” he said.

Kosnett assessed that discussions for unification of Mitrovica cannot be productive at this moment and called on both governments not to undertake actions which would complicate the situation further.

Limaj: Tariff will not be lifted until conditions are met (media)

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister Fatmir Limaj said on Sunday that the Kosovo Government will not lift the 100 percent import tariff on Serbian goods until Serbia meets certain conditions.

“There are hundreds of reasons that forced us to introduce the tariff. The tariff will not be lifted until the conditions are met. I think this is clear to everyone. The tariff won’t be lifted until Kosovo’s conditions toward Serbia are met … I hope Serbia will start reflecting on this,” Limaj was quoted as saying.

Isufi: Coalition is functioning, there are no new elections (Epoka)

Ahmet Isufi, caucus of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), denied claims that the governing coalition is in crisis. He told the paper that eventual distinctions on certain issues will not affect the relations between the coalition partners. Isufi does not believe that there are going to be new elections this summer. According to him, the two major opposition political parties do not seem to be interested in this either.

Isufi also said that the 100-percent import tariff on Serbian products will remain in force.

President Thaci’s pullbacks (Koha)

The paper reports on its front page that “Kosovo President Hashim Thaci keeps pushing his ideas forward only as much as internationals tolerate this. Despite continuous calls by political parties and civil society, only last week the President unblocked the Central Election Commission, and after a public statement by U.S. Ambassador Philip Kosnett. Thaci’s political career is full of such pullbacks. His attempt to paralyze the specialist court, the legal undertaking for the Kosovo Security Force in 2017 without international support, and recently his silence over the idea for border correction with Serbia – are only some of the processes in which Thaci has not proved to be consistent”. Political commentators in Pristina told the paper on Sunday that Thaci does this only to the point where his personal relations with internationals are not threatened.

PM Haradinaj to meet two senior German officials today (Klan Kosova)

Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj will meet this morning with two German MPs, the news website reports. Haradinaj will meet Peter Bauer from the CDU and Christian Schmidt from the CSU.

Phillips: Serbia has lost Kosovo, time for dialogue to end (VOA/Bota Sot)

David Phillips, director of the Peace-Building and Human Rights Program with a Columbia University’s institute, said in an interview with Voice of America that Serbia should recognise the fact that it has lost Kosovo and that the time has come for the dialogue for normalisation of relations between Kosovo and Serbia to conclude in a comprehensive agreement that would imply Serbia’s recognition of Kosovo under current borders.

“There should be no discussions on border correction but on normalisation of relations under current borders. Even if the dialogue were to result in a border correction agreement, President [of Serbia] Vucic has no votes in the parliament to change Serbia’s Constitution or recgonise independence of Kosovo. He cannot change the mind of EU member states that have not recognised independence of Kosovo such as Spain.  Russia doesn’t take orders from Serbia. Kosovo would therefore get nothing in exchange for giving up a part of its territory,” Phillips said.

Kosovo courts take over war crimes cases from EULEX (RFE)

Kosovo’s judicial authorities’ decision to have the war crimes department begin work as part of the justice work strategy has been hailed by the Humanitarian Law Centre. Amer Alija, researchers with the HLC, said that they have been lobbying since 2012 for the
Kosovo war crimes department to become operational. The strategy for tackling war crimes plans to strengthen the war crimes department within the Special Prosecution with additional prosecutors. Prosecutor Syle Hoxha told RFE that they have received a considerable number of cases from EULEX which calls for additional staff to cope with the increasing number of cases.

Haziri: Swiss Ambassador spoke with good intention (Kosova Sot)

Deputy leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) said that said the intention of the Swiss Ambassador to Kosovo Jean-Hubert Lebet when he spoke that while they are investing in Kosovo, thefts are occurring with veterans’ lists, was good. Haziri said that it is a shame that someone requested for the Ambassador to leave. “He behaved not as a diplomat, but as a friend of Kosovo. He spoke in Skenderaj as the best friend of Kosovo Albanians,” Haziri said adding that the only response to the Ambassador should be expressing appreciation.

U.S. Ambassador: Kosovo succeeds when women lead (media)

Most news websites report that U.S. Ambassador in Kosovo, Philip Kosnett, said on Sunday that Kosovo succeeds when women lead. Kosnett tweeted: “Kosovo succeeds when women lead! This past month I’ve shared stories of many women who are leaders in Kosovo. I invite you to share the leaders who inspire you—use #WomenLeadKS—so we can celebrate the contributions of women in #Kosovo!”

Mikic: My dismissal, part of efforts to get rid of Serbs in Kosovo institutions (Zeri)

Former Kosovo Deputy Minister of Justice, Vesna Mikic, has written an open letter to Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj and representatives of the international community in Kosovo saying that the reason behind her dismissal has nothing to do with her social media post where she accused NATO of genocide against the Serbian people but rather with the goal to remove legitimately elected Serb representatives from the Kosovo institutions.