Finance Minister, Avdullah Hoti, said that the government of Kosovo expects to close the year with 4 percent economic growth and the estimates are that this figure will be even higher in 2017. “We have a significant improvement in tax payment,” said Hoti in the meeting of the parliamentary commission on budget and finance.  He added that if progress is made in projects including energy and the Trepca mining complex, “we can rest assured that the economic growth will be much higher.”

Kosovo President, Hashim Thaci, said today that in line with his promises when he took up office, he has requested and initiated the amendment of the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. “I have made this request in order to eliminate legal gaps and to strengthen the laws,” Thaci said at the first meeting of the working group that will amend the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, organised by the Ministry of Justice. Thaci also said: “we are witnesses to global changes and Kosovo is not immune to the current threats.

The minister of Justice, Dhurata Hoxha is expected to dismiss the managerial staff of the Detention Center in Prizren.

Sources of Klan Kosova said that this is expected to happen soon. The decision will be based on the findings of the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Justice who drafted a report on Astrit Dehari’s death at this detention center.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Isa Mustafa, told the Serbian List that there is no decree on the Association of the Serb-majority Municipalities.

This was Mustafa’s response to the requests of the Serb ministers, Ljubomir Marić and Dalobor Jevtić, who have sent a message to the government of Kosovo that they should endorse the decree for establishment of the Association of the Serb-majority Municipalities if they really want Serbs’ return to the institutions.

President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, called on the European Union to discontinue conditioning visa liberalisation as Kosovo more progress in meeting European standards than other countries in the region. In a meeting of the National Anti-Corruption Council, Thaci said: “The completely unfair approach on the part of European Union towards Kosovo is preventing the citizens from travelling freely without visas. The country has made more progress than any other country in the region in the fight against corruption and organised crime.

The Minister of the Internal Affairs of Kosovo, Skënder Hyseni said today that he will use the 2017 to do anything that is possible for Kosovo’s membership at Interpol.

He also congratulated Kosovo Police for the assessment of the Transparency International which ranked KP as the most trusted in the region.

Prime Minister of Kosovo Isa Mustafa also congratulated the police.

The German Ambassador to Kosovo, Angelika Viets, said today in Pristina that parliamentary elections in Kosovo should be held according to the timetable in 2018 and that if elections are not held then Kosovo would lag behind in all reforms and areas. Viets made these remarks during the launch of an EU and German-backed project on strengthening policy and legislation development.

Head of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) parliamentary group, Pal Lekaj, said the most recent telecommunication agreement between Kosovo and Serbia is very damaging for Kosovo. According to Lekaj, the dialing code is not international but rather provincial. “I can call this a success for Serbia not Kosovo,” Lekaj said.

The fight against corruption in the Western Balkans and Turkey is failing, putting European Union accession at risk, highlights Transparency International in its latest report. Political elites have too much power and there are limited ways to hold the corrupt to account, the report further stated.

The Prime Minister of Kosovo Isa Mustafa, congratulated the elected President of the United States of America, Donald Trump.

“The United States of America is the main strategic ally and partner of Kosovo. Kosovo population and the government of Kosovo are fully determined on further expansion of cooperation with the United States of America and the American administration in all fields,” is written in the letter.