President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga met with leader of the Democratic Party of Albania, Lulzim Basha, in Pristina today. Jahajga and Basha discussed the current situation in Kosovo, with special emphasis on the latest developments in the Kosovo Assembly as well as other processes related to visa liberalization requirements, the Stabilisation and Association Agreement and the Pristina-Belgrade dialogue.

The paper has published an editorial by the President of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, writen for the International Women's Day:

Every woman of this country has a valuable history of sacrifice, resistance, faith and hope. Histories which we might have heard, which we might have shared with one another with pride, or which we have asked to be acted upon in order not to allow similar histories to occur ever again.

Below find the opinion piece by the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Kosovo, Ruairi O’Connell, published today in Zeri.

8th March is celebrated internationally as women's day.

I have to admit, the first time I spent 8 March in Kosovo, I was surprised by the tradition. The day is not really celebrated in Britain, and I had not seen this practiced before.

But I am glad that it is marked in Kosovo.

Kosovo’s President-elect, Hashim Thaci, in an interview with Albania-based newspaper Gazeta Shqiptare, said the recent crisis in Kosovo is only temporary and that every democracy went through such phases. “We are a young country and it will take some time for us to adjust our political culture with the advanced democratic system,” Thaci said, adding that as Kosovo President, he will work to strengthen democracy and rule of law in Kosovo.

 Kosovo Assembly President, Kadri Veseli, said after the meeting of the Assembly Presidency that the next Assembly session will be held on Thursday. He added that the next sessions will concern visa liberalization. “We will hold e session on 10 March to discuss ten issues of the agenda. We will hold an additional session after 10 March. The European Union is priority. Fulfillment of the criteria for visa liberalization are the conditions that we have to work on, therefore we will hold two sessions soon,” Veseli said.

Aida Derguti, from Vetevendosje movement has just left the meeting of the Assembly Presidency, and told media that the next Assembly session will be held on Thursday. She said that she tried to object this decision, however she was incapable to change anything. “The session will be held on Thursday, we will obstruct holding of this session as well. In the meantime, we will send the case of manner of the election of the President of Kosovo at the Constitutional Court. This is the position of the united opposition,” Derguti said.

The head of the EU Office in Kosovo and EU Special Representative, Samuel Zbogar, said today that he is concerned about the current political crisis in Kosovo. "Political stability is a prerequisite for economic development, visa liberalization, the normalization process and the implementation of European reforms and the SAA," he said. "We believe Kosovo has reached a stage where it must prove that it is able to deal with these issues.

Mayor of Mitrovica Agim Bahtiri, Director of the regional office for employment in Mitrovica, Besmir Salihu, and UNDP Active Labour Market Programme Project Manager Ada Shima, informed citizens of the region of Mitrovica yesterday about the self-employment program for 2016. Besmir Salihu said the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, in cooperation with the UNDP and the Ministry of Trade and Industry, urge all the citizens who have ideas for businesses to submit their applications for support for the development of their business in 2016.

The Association of Kosovo Journalists (AKJ) condemned the car tire slashing of KTV’s Editor-in-Chief Adriatik Kelmendi. In a press release AKJ said the attack on Kelmendi is an attempt to prevent freedom of expression. “AKJ calls on the relevant authorities to investigate this case and bring the perpetrators to justice. Threats will not stop Kosovo journalists from reporting on developments in the country,” reads the press release. Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga, the OSCE and the US and UK Ambassadors also condemned the attack.

Kosovo opposition parties are confident that the anti-government protest scheduled for 17 February will be the biggest yet. The opposition bloc is already meeting citizens from different municipalities to garner support for the upcoming protest. Adonis Tahiri from Vetevendosje said the united opposition continues to demand the annulment of the agreement with Serbia on the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities and the border demarcation with Montenegro.