Kosovo Assembly President, Kadri Veseli, met today with the chairman and members of the parliamentary committee for foreign affairs, as part of efforts to strengthen Kosovo’s parliamentary diplomacy and lobbying on issues of special interest to Kosovo.
The British Ambassador to Kosovo, Ruairi O’Connell, said in an interview with the news website today that the “Pronto” affair is not the only evidence of corruption within Kosovo’s institutions. “We need to combat the culture of nepotism where people are employed based on family ties,” he said. O’Connell said the Kosovo government should seriously address the fight against terror. The British Ambassador also said that Kosovo deserves visa liberalisation but that it needs to meet the requirements first.
Kosovo’s Foreign Minister, Enver Hoxhaj, said today that the universal recognition of Kosovo’s independence and statehood remains the top priority of Kosovo’s foreign policy. In his report to the Kosovo Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Hoxhaj said his ministry was making outstanding efforts to increase the number of recognitions of Kosovo’s independence. “Kosovo will get three new recognitions by the end of the year.
Kosovo Assembly MP from the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) said that Kosovo is not experiencing its best days when liberalization of visas is concerned. Haliti made these comments during the meeting of the parliamentary committee for Stabilization Association where they spoke about the liberalization of visas and preparations for the second Kosovo-EU meeting which will be held on 23 and 24 November in Brussels.
Ramush Haradinaj, leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), said in an interview for the news website, that the border demarcation with Montenegro must be concluded in order to move forward with Kosovo’s development and not have delays on other issues. “Demarcation is an open issue and it needs to be closed. The Alliance [for the Future of Kosovo] and the Initiative for Kosovo, want the current agreement to be annulled and for a proper solution to be found,” he said.
After meeting the most senior authorities at the EU in Brussels, Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj is visiting today Strasbourg where he met with Euro-deputies of different political parties and powerful parliamentary groups of the European Parliament.
Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, said today that Kosovo is determined to meet the final criteria for visa liberalisation – the border demarcation with Montenegro. After meeting the newly-appointed head of the EU Office in Kosovo, Nataliya Apostolova, Mustafa said that Brussels should pressure Serbia into implementing the agreements reached in the EU-brokered dialogue so far and added that Kosovo remains committed to this process. Apostolova asked Mustafa to brief her on the Kosovo Government’s concrete measures against corruption and nepotism.
The Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo told the news website that one of the key conditions for visa liberalisation for Kosovo is the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities. The office, which is led by Marko Djuric, said in a reply that European and U.S. officials have made it clear that the Association/Community is one of the key conditions.
Kosovo’s Minister for European Integration Bekim Çollaku said in an interview for zëri that the decision of EU Committee LIBE opens way to visa liberalization for Kosovo. However this will be done in condition that Kosovo ratifies the agreement on border demarcation with Montenegro as soon as possible. He said that ratification is a necessary condition where the EU will not compromise, and that it was made clear on Tuesday that the European Parliament will not put report on Kosovo in the agenda if this remaining criterion is not fulfilled.
The European Parliament’s Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) voted against beginning of negotiations on the liberalisation of visas for citizens of Kosovo. The S&D Group remains strongly in favour of visa liberalisation, however this can only begin when the government of Kosovo has addressed all the outstanding issues.