In an interview to KTV, Vetevendosje MP Albin Kurti said President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci is the person who has the least right to initiate the setting up of a unity team to represent Kosovo in talks with Serbia. “You have to be a unifying person to create a unity team. If there is one person that has no legitimacy to set up a unity team, that is Thaci,” Kurti said. He also noted that Kosovo should wait for the outcome of the internal dialogue in Serbia on Kosovo and “not interfere in Serbia’s internal affairs like Serbia does in Kosovo’s.”

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Behgjet Pacolli, said Kosovo has managed to secure enough votes to gain membership in UNESCO. He said that in meetings with foreign diplomats in the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the Kosovo delegation has secured the necessary votes for UNESCO although he admitted that Kosovo would still need to adopt two pieces of legislation regarding religious equality.

EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, and Commissioner for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Johannes Hahn, met Western Balkans leaders in New York and reconfirmed the region’s European perspective.

A group of NGOs, authorized by the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare to receive applications for recognition of status to the victims of sexual violence during the conflict, requested the government of Kosovo to allocate the budget for the process of verification and recognition. The NGOs said that despite all actions taken with regards to setting up the committee that would look into the applications, there is still no budget allocated for the purpose.

The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, met in New York in the margins of the UN General Assembly the President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, and the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.

Minister of Economic Development, Valdrin Lluka, said in a meeting with Mitrovica Mayor, Agim Bahtiri, that his goal is to turn the Trepca mining complex into Kosovo’s engine of economic development and employment. “We will get down to work right away and will establish a board for the [Trepca] enterprise to pave way for sustainable development,” Lluka said. The meeting was held at Mayor Bahtiri’s request who expressed his concerns over the state of public enterprises in the Mitrovica region.

The Director for Western Europe, Western Balkans and Turkey at the European External Action Service, Angelina Eichhorst, said in a meeting with the Kosovo Assembly President, Kadri Veseli, that the EU expects Kosovo to implement all visa liberalisation criteria and that it will provide support for Kosovo’s European perspective. Veseli on his part assured the EU official that new institutions are committed to fulfill the conditions enabling the people of Kosovo visa-free travel to Europe.

Head of Montenegro’s commission for border demarcation with Kosovo, Milan Paunovic, told the media that the border issue is Kosovo’s internal matter but that he hoped Pristina authorities would approve the agreement already signed by the two parties in 2015. Paunovic did not wish to make any further comments saying that the Montenegrin government has not received any official notification about changes in the Kosovo’s border demarcation commission or plans for renegotiating of the current agreement.

Deputy leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Enver Hoxhaj, said today at the Assembly of Kosovo, that the PAN coalition has the candidate for Assembly leader but not the majority. “As agreed at our last meeting, we are here at the session today. I want to thank political parties that participated, because our country needs a policy of cooperation and consensus. I also want to thank Mr. Mikullovci. We are not here to waste time with delays, as major decisions await this Assembly,” Hoxhaj said.

The nominee for the prime minister of Kosovo by the PDK-AAK-NISMA (PAN) coalition, Ramush Haradinaj, as that as announced on Wednesday, the Assembly session will not resume today. He said that they have requested a few more days, and assured that they will come up with results soon.