Kosovo MP and former member of Vetevendosje Ilir Deda said in an interview for the paper that the European Commission’s recommendation for visa liberalization is late but at the same time is well-deserved. “It is important that our people, Kosovo, will no longer be a ghetto in the Western Balkans and it is important to have the fundamental right to free movement as dignified citizens of Europe”, said Deda adding that no one is interested of who did or did not take credit for visa liberalization and that all that matters is the end result.

Kosovo’s Interior Minister Skender Hyseni said he was optimistic that the European Parliament would very soon approve the recommendation of the European Commission to lift the visa regime for the people of Kosovo. According to Hyseni, the European Parliament is expected to vote on the recommendation in 10-12 weeks’ time “and we hope the citizens will be able to move freely by mid-summer or little bit after”.

Kosovars will be able to move without visas within 2016. This is official already. The news was confirmed by the Minister for European Integration, Bekim Collaku, who received information from European officials.

Now only technical procedures which are expected to be fulfilled within a few weeks, remain. Be as it may, today will be a marked day. The 4^th of May is the day when Kosovo gains positive recommendation for liberalization of visas for Schengen zone. This is Collaku’s posting on Facebook:

WITHOUT VISAS – 2016

Kosovo Minister without portfolio, Edita Tahiri, said on Monday that the agreement reached with Serbia on mutual recognition of ADR (Transportation of Dangerous Goods) has entered into force as of today. According to this agreement, all carriers from Kosovo through ADR certificates issued by the relevant institutions of Kosovo , will deliver the trading activities with neighboring country Serbia, said Tahiri. She added further that this allows the removal of obstacles that Serbia has introduced to transport companies in Kosovo for nearly more than eight months.

The paper’s regular columnist Milaim Shefkiu says that Kosovo politicians have become used to mask their failures with the justification that they are acting on the instructions of the international community. The most recent example of this is the decision not to allow entry into Kosovo of persons in possession of ID cards issued by Serb parallel structures.

Kosovo’s institutions were mobilized to react if Vojislav Seselj, leader of the Serbian Radical Party, entered the territory of Kosovo during the weekend. Seselj, who was recently acquitted on war crime charges by the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY), said he wanted to visit Serb-inhabited areas in the northern part of Kosovo. After the Kosovo Ministry of Interior Affairs issued an arrest warrant, the Kosovo Police deployed its most elite unit - FIT - to Mitrovica.

Kosovo and the United States of America today signed an extradition treaty. The agreement was signed by the outgoing President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga and the United States Ambassador to Kosovo, Greg Delawie. Jahjaga said "this agreement will ensure that criminals who pose a threat to our countries will be brought to justice," while Delawie said this agreement enhances the credibility of Kosovo. “Judges and prosecutors will be trained for efficiency in pursuing criminals. Our Government will spend 12 million dollars on this issue,” Delawie said.

In an opinion piece, the paper’s Editor-in-Chief Arbana Xharra writes that the crackdown on freedom of speech has become more and more sophisticated over time. Nowadays, reporters are openly being threatened by people connected to criminal groups or politics, especially if they tackle corruption, religion and justice. Xharra mentions the case when then-leader of the largest opposition party, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Isa Mustafa called Zeri a “fascist paper” and no one reacted.

Former Vetevendosje leader and MP Albin Kurti said in a press conference today that the forcible deportation of the party’s official Boiken Abazi, an Albanian national, back to his home country represents a political scandal that requires the intervention of Tirana’s top leadership. Kurti said Abazi did not violate any Kosovo laws because if this had been the case he would have been given a proper trial.

Several media reported today that the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) parliamentary group decided that the party will boycott the Assembly of Kosovo. A copy of the decision published by media states that however the AAK will continue to be part of the united opposition.