Citing unidentified sources, the news site reports that Ramush Haradinaj, the leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), is getting back his passport after it was confiscated by Slovenian authorities when they detained him in Ljubljana airport on June 17. The Basic Court of Kranj, which was handling Haradinaj’s case, decided to return him the passport.
Kosovo's Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa, said today that the Kosovo government will send the draft law on the special court to the Assembly today. Mustafa said he hopes the Assembly will discuss the bill on June 26. On the detention of Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) leader Ramush Haradinaj, Mustafa said his government is in constant touch with the Slovenian authorities and that he expects Haradinaj to return to Kosovo soon. Mustafa also ruled out Haradinaj's eventual extradition to Belgrade.
European Union Special Representative in Pristina, Samuel Zbogar, presented his proposal for resolving disputes over the so-called Peace Park build on the Mitrovica main bridge, said spokesperson to the EU High Representative Federica Mogherini, Maja Kocijancic. She did not however explain details of the proposal. Kocijancic added that talks on the Mitrovica barricade will resume on 22 June while a meeting between prime ministers of Kosovo and Serbia, Isa Mustafa and Aleksandar Vucic respectively, has been scheduled for the next day.
Leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), Ramush Haradinaj has been detained by Slovenian authorities in the Ljubljana airport on an arrest warrant issued by Serbia in 2006. AAK called for an immediate release of its leader saying this is an intentional attack on Haradinaj’s personality. Haradinaj was returning from an official visit to Germany via Slovenia.
The three-day Kosovo Summit on International Law and Human Rights, organized by the Supreme Court of Kosovo and the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy concluded its works yesterday and organizer said the summit met all its objectives. President of the Supreme Court of Kosovo, Fejzullah Hasani expressed the need for increase of both human and training resources in the judicial sector. He also said the dialogue between communities should intensify.
The news site reports on a roundtable being held in the town of Gracanica about the situation in Kosovo, specifically about the northern part of the country. Sources told Koha that in attendance is Aleksandar Jablanovic, the leader of the Serbian List and former Kosovo Minister for Returns and Communities who was suspended from this post after insulting the mothers of missing persons from Gjakova/Djakovica. Jablanovic reportedly said at the roundtable that only the northern Serbs can remove the barricade on the River Ibar Bridge.
Pristina and Belgrade working groups met yesterday in Brussels to discuss issues relating to telephony. Head of Kosovo delegation, Edita Tahiri, said the parties discussed finalizing an action plan whereby Kosovo will receive an international dial code. She said there is agreement for mobile operators from Kosovo and Serbia to cooperate on roaming services and she also announced that a new telephony company will be temporarily licensed in Kosovo. At the conclusion of the meeting, the parties agreed to continue talks on 22 June.
Kosovo’s Minister of Labour and Social Welfare, Arban Abrashi, took part in a Vienna conference titled “Investing in skills” organised by the World Bank and the Austrian Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo. As a panelist, Abrashi spoke in the conference about the Kosovo government’s strategy to decrease unemployment and fight poverty. Abrashi said participation in the conference is part of preparations for a World Bank employment project through which Kosovo will benefit from investment in the most important sectors.
The President of the Kosovo Assembly, Kadri Veseli, told reporters in Pristina today that the members of parliament will very soon have in their hands the draft law on the specialized chambers of the special court. Veseli said after the meeting of the Assembly Presidency that it was of utmost importance for Kosovo to maintain its partnership with the international community. “We don’t have the draft law yet. We have talked with the Prime Minister, and we will very soon have in Parliament the draft law on the specialized chambers of the special court.
The EU Office in Kosovo, through a clarification to media, stated that it has no knowledge of the existence of any confidential report on Kosovo involving EULEX and PDK officials, a copy of which was published by the media few weeks ago. "We have no knowledge of such report and therefore cannot speculate on who and with what motives drafted it,” read the press statement. “However we can confirm that the report was not prepared by EULEX, the EEAS or the European Commission, nor by any of these organizations."