Petrit Gashi, chairman of the board of the Privatisation Agency of Kosovo, told Radio Free Europe that “Serbia has no shares in any property in Kosovo” and that “Belgrade knows well that Trepca is Kosovo’s property”.
The status of the Trepca mining complex has been a topic of discussion for quite some time in Kosovo. In your opinion, what is the best solution for the mining complex in Mitrovica?
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.
Most news websites report that Nehat Thaci, the Kosovo Police director for the Mitrovica region, was arrested on Wednesday evening at the Koncul border crossing point between Kosovo and Serbia. Kosovo Police have confirmed the arrest. Koha carries a press release issued by the Serbian Ministry of Interior Affairs on the matter. "Members of the Ministry of Interior Affairs have arrested N. Th. (1976) from Ferizaj based on an arrest warrant issued by the High Court of Nis on terrorism charges. N. Th.
The prosecution appealed against the decision of the Basic Court in Pristina, which left three from the six arrested Vetvendosje activists suspected for the attack on the Kosovo Assembly building using explosive device, in house arrest.
The Special Prosecutor, Abdurrahim Islami, who submitted the appeal at the Court of Appeals, said that the suspects acted as a group and each of them plaid their role. “Some worked on planning and organizing, some on ensuring means, but they all acted as a group,” Islami said.
The Vetevendosje Movement MP, Aida Derguti, was also arrested by the Kosovo Police today inside the premises of the Kosovo Assembly. Sources told the news site that Derguti was arrested because during the security check she had a pepper spray in her bag.
The United States Ambassador to Kosovo, Greg Delawie, in an interview with the news site said that Kosovo Assembly should vote in favor of the agreement on border demarcation with Montenegro. According to him, the agreement as it was prepared by the commission on demarcation, says that the border is the same as in 1974 maps. “I think it is important for Kosovo to ratify this agreement. The agreement on border demarcation is not the most important issue here. In fact, there is a matter of power here.
The leader of the Vetëvendosje movement, Visar Ymeri, wrote on his Facebook page that the U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will be meeting criminals wearing presidential and governmental suits. “We hope that this meeting of the U.S. Vice-President Biden with these Kosovar criminals wearing presidential and governmental suits will be different from the others. Mr. Biden is arriving amidst the PRONTO 2 affair, to meet some of the main protagonists of Mafia in Kosovo,” Ymeri wrote.
By Edmond Krasniqi
Kosovo has accumulated plenty of domestic problems since the 1998-1999 independence war, but the US and EU are just making things worse by pressuring its leaders to ratify a border agreement with neighbouring Montenegro. The border delineation was agreed in August 2015 and ratified by Montenegro's parliament four months later.
But Kosovo's opposition has expressed serious doubts over the deal, claiming that over 8,000 hectares of land will be lost.
The ruling coalition between the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) will try to ratify agreement on border demarcation with Montenegro before the visit of the US Vice President Joe Biden on 17 August, sources told the news website. Meanwhile, the draft law on border demarcation, passed today by the government of Kosovo, is expected to be submitted to the Assembly for final endorsement next week, around the 11th of August.
Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hajredin Kuçi, stated that messages of the Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department, Victoria Nuland, on the demarcation issue, are good for the government. “Those messages will be taken seriously by the government,” Kuçi said. Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hajredin Kuçi, said during the introduction of the future Minister of Justice, that “we will use each opportunity to find a consensus on proceeding the agreement further.”