The Presidency of the Assembly of Kosovo decided today that on 29 May the Assembly will vote on the constitutional amendments that enable the establishment of the special court. The head of the Vetevendosje Parliamentary Group, Glauk Konjufca, said that the establishment of this court is very harmful for Kosovo, because, according to him, everyone knows who committed crimes in Kosovo.
On Thursday, Jablanovic conferred with EU Special Representative Samuel Zbogar in Pristina about several current issues, with special emphasis on the forthcoming adoption of the Law on the Special Court for KLA crimes.
The meeting served to exchange ideas how to resolve some important issues in Kosovo, with special focus on Serbian perception of the Law which should soon be put before the parliament, said Jablanovic.
The Deputy Ambassador of a Western embassy in Pristina implied today that the upcoming session of the United Nations Security Council could address the establishment of a special court that will deal with war crimes allegations in Kosovo. Pristina is alarmed by this news that came from the United Nations Headquarters in New York. The Kosovo Assembly Presidency called a meeting for 11:00 today and it is expected to summon an extraordinary session of the Assembly for today.
Citing unidentified sources, Lajmi reports that the Kosovo Assembly will hold an extraordinary session today to vote on the special court that will address war crimes allegations. The Assembly Presidency will meet at 11:00. The heads of parliamentary groups will also attend the meeting. “The Assembly Presidency, which will meet at 11:00, will call a parliamentary session for this afternoon and the establishment of the special court will be in the agenda,” the source, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the news site.
The paper’s front page editorial today writes that Kosovo opposition suspects that the ruling coalition is bargaining with the representatives of the Serbian List to enable the establishment of the Kosovo Armed Forces (KAF) after the establishment of the special court. The paper also writes that the government’s lack of transparency makes more serious the allegations of the opposition parties for political conspiracies that might occur in the coming weeks.
The Presidency of the Kosovo Assembly today did not include on the agenda of 21 May the constitutional amendments required for the establishment of the special court that will address war crimes allegations. Assembly Speaker Kadri Veseli told reporters after the meeting that additional consultations were needed to reach a consensus among the parliamentary parties. “The most important thing is to have international partnership and a national consensus,” Veseli said. “Allow me to reiterate that Kosovo’s economic development should be our priority.
MP from the Serbian List Jasmina Živković voiced her expectation that Kosovo parliament will adopt the law on special court, and stressed that it is about process which is important for entire Kosovo.
“I expect that 81 MP will vote for the establishment of the special court,” said Živković, and added that nothing is yet sure since there is no official confirmation about the session.
Vetevendosje MP Albin Kurti writes in an opinion piece that similar to the United Nations Mission in Kosovo and to the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, the Special Court will not answer to the people of Kosovo either. “The question is: why should we legitimize something that will not answer to us? This time, they want us as an independent state, to agree to have a judiciary that will be independent from us? It doesn’t get any more absurd than this”.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon on his quarterly report on Kosovo which will be reviews on 26 May, has welcomed the continuation of the Pristina – Belgrade dialogue and the reaching of agreement on judiciary, and stressed that one of the remaining crucial issues is the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities.
The European Union Special Representative to Kosovo, Samuel Zbogar, said on Thursday that Kosovo should establish the special court in order to clear the allegations on war crimes as well as to establish the truth. He also mentioned the consequences of not establishing the court, saying that in this case Kosovo becomes the object of interest and international decisions. "If the vote is no, which is possible, and Kosovo rejects the establishment of special chambers, that would send Kosovo back, before the supervised independence and others will decide for Kosovo’s future.