Kosovo Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa, said today that he would make efforts to coordinate positions with the opposition before resubmitting the border demarcation deal with Montenegro to the Kosovo Assembly. “I think we will meet with the opposition be it directly or in other ways with the participation of foreign ambassadors too. We will try to coordinate our positions before resending the agreement to the Assembly.
Kosovo Assembly President, Kadri Veseli, commented today on the Serbian List’s decision to suspend their participation in institutions after the Assembly adopted the law on the Trepca mining complex. Veseli said the Serbian List will soon return to the Assembly and that there is no reason for boycott. Asked about the eventual return of Serb ministers in the government, Veseli said: “officially they have not returned yet, but we have contacts. They have their political position but I believe this situation will soon improve and they will return”.
"I have acknowledged it," was Aleksandar Vucic's response when asked about the objections made in EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini's report.
The report in question concerns the priorities of EU's common foreign and security policy for 2016.
Serbian Armed Forces Chief of General Staff Gen Ljubisa Dikovic Monday urged KFOR to take all measures to maintain peace and security for the citizens of Kosovo-Metohija, pointing to a "fragile" security situation in the province after the decision of the Kosovo authorities on Trepca.
President of the Committee for Kosovo and Metohija Milovan Drecun says that he would like today's discussion on Trepča to be based on facts.
The Committee will be addressed by Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Marko Đurić, who will submit a report on the work of the office and inform the committee on the progress of the dialogue in Brussels.
The Serb representatives in the Kosovo government have informed the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija of the reasons for freezing their participation in the government, inter-ministerial committees and other government bodies, and today's submission of the request to the constitutional court in Pristina for the assessment of the constitutionality of the law of Trepča.
Slavko Simić, the head of the parliamentary group of the Serbian List, said after the submission of the request that on the occasion of adoption of the Law on Trepča, Articles 79 and 81 of the Constitution of Kosovo were violated, which relate to the Serbian community in Kosovo.
Simić also announced that the Serbian list will submit a request for the assessment of the constitutionality of the Law on capital investments, which has been adopted on Tuesday.
Kosovo’s parliament voted last Friday to nationalize a huge mining complex, Trepca, and save it from bankruptcy; bankruptcy proceedings would have otherwise begun on November 1st.
Economic crisis turns political
Creditors have claims against Trepca to the tune of €1,4bn. That is more than 20% of Kosovo’s GDP. However, the mining complex is one of the biggest employers in Kosovo, which suffers from 32% unemployment.
Following unilateral acts by the Pristina authorities, the level of Belgrade's trust in Pristina and its capacity to negotiate in good faith is understandably lower, the head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Marko Djuric on Wednesday told Simona-Mirela Miculescu, the representative of the UN Secretary-General and head of the UN Office in Belgrade.
Djuric briefed Miculescu on Pristina's illegal attack on the Trepca mining complex and the steps Serbia would take to inform the UN of this.
The leader of the Serbian List, Slavko Simic, told media today in Pristina that the adoption of the Trepca Law by Kosovo Assembly has violated the rights of Serbs living in Kosovo. According to him, Kosovo President Hashim Thaci cannot sign this law as long as the Constitutional Court does not issue a decision on the matter. The issue of Trepca, Simic said, requires a broad consensus. Simic, accompanied by other members of the Serbian List, today addressed the Constitutional Court of Kosovo regarding the Trepca Law.