Deputy leader of Vetevendosje movement, Fatmire Kollqaku, said that Kosovo’s restart of the dialogue with Serbia, by President Hashim Thaci, at the time when Kosovo has just went through an election process, is illegitimate.
Co-founder of Alternativa, Ilir Deda, said the dialogue for normalization of relations with Serbia is a national issue which requires a broad consensus between political parties. In a Facebook post, Deda said that before agreeing to anything in the framework of the EU-facilitated dialogue, President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci would have to get the approval of political parties. “Kosovo’s state interest should be built only through broad consensus of political parties. It cannot be built by any institutional leader on their own”, Deda wrote.
The President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci requested from the entire political specter in Kosovo to leave aside political and party divisions, in order to support discussions between Kosovo and Serbia on normalization of relations.
In an interview given to RTK from Brussels, Thaci said that Kosovo’s only way for integration is that of dialogue and integration, and within this segment, he said, there should not be political divergences.
The Office of Federica Mogherini, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, issued a press release which informs about this morning's informal meeting with the Presidents Aleksandar Vučić of Serbia and Hashim Thaçi of Kosovo, held in Brussels.
Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) secretary, Bilall Sherifi, criticized the decision of Kosovo President Hashim Thaci to meet Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Brussels. In a Facebook post, Sherifi said Brussels dialogue should be preceded by an internal government-opposition dialogue in Kosovo which would result in “a national consensus” on the future course of action.
President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, announced 22 October as the local elections date. Thaci took the decision after consultations with political parties and instructed the Central Election Commission to undertake all necessary actions to organise the electoral process.
Belgrade and Pristina negotiating teams to be led by the presidents in the future, if both sides agree, Večernje Novosti learns in Brussels.
The Cabinet of the High Representative, Federica Mogherini so far several times has repeated that it depends from the participants of the dialogue who will sit in their teams, when it comes to foreign advisors or persons with whom the other party would not want to negotiate. The same applies and about changing the level of dialogue.
At a meeting with Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, representatives of main political parties said 22 October is the optimal time for holding local elections.
Head of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Valdete Daka, said they are ready to organise elections whenever they are announced but noted it would be better to have them earlier on before the weather conditions worsen.
President Thaci said he would consider all proposals and announce the election date in the coming days.
President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, expressed concern over reports of voter intimidation in the northern part of Kosovo in a meeting he had today with the chief observer of the EU Election Observation Mission in Kosovo, Alojz Peterle.
The President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci told Croatian daily Jutarnji that transformation of Kosovo Security Force into an army does not represent a threat for any country of the region, instead it would contribute to peace.
Thaci said that Kosovo is a sovereign state and as any independent country, has the right to have its own army. According to him, this will happen during this year and these forces will be trained according to NATO standards.