Vetevendosje MP Ilir Deda wrote on his Facebook account that early elections will take place in Kosovo, with or without a political agreement beforehand. “Thaci and Mustafa will not govern until 2018 and early elections will be held,” said Deda.
Today, Kosovo’s European Integration Minister, Bekim Collaku, told members of the Parliamentary Committee for European Integration that he was satisfied with the report on visa liberalization prepared by Kosovo institutions. He said the input prepared by the government is already being evaluated by the European Commission. According to Collaku, the final decision by the European Commission will be positive for Kosovo.
During his Kosovo visit yesterday, German Parliamentary State Secretary, Hans-Joachim Fuchtel announced that Germany has allocated 11 million euros to Kosovo for the year 2016. The money will be allocated to developing the sectors of education, youth employment and green economy. Fuchtel said Germany will continue to support Kosovo on its path towards European integration.
The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) called a press conference today to speak about the Kosovo government’s intention to allow a GSM operator from Serbia to operate in Kosovo once the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) grants it a dialling prefix. AAK said the move is “unacceptable” and unknown to international practices. “The government has instructed the Serb authority to operate in Kosovo through an opportunity the operators don’t enjoy even in Serbia,” said AAK’s Anton Berisha.
The Serbian List parliamentary group chief, Slavko Simic, told the news website his party still hasn’t decided on PDK leader Hashim Thaci’s candidacy for Kosovo President. "We expect in the coming days to discuss the subject matter with our coalition partners. It is absolutely untrue that we set conditions for the election of the Kosovo President with the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb-majority municipalities. We still have no official stance on this issue,” Simic said.
The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) parliamentary group chief, Adem Grabovci, today denied the rumors that Assembly President Kadri Veseli was nominated to be PDK’s leader after Hashim Thaci’s candidacy for Kosovo President. "We are currently analyzing the situation. It is true that we have had meetings but is absolutely not true what media reported on Veseli’s nomination,” Grabovci said.
The government of Kosovo does not yet have an emergency relief fund which would be used in cases of natural disasters such as the recent flooding in several municipalities. Hajriz Sejdiu from the Emergency Management Agency that functions under the Ministry of Interior said the government is obliged to set up an emergency relief fund. He said the government already has a so-called reserve fund but that only assists in evacuation of the people from disaster areas and their shelter but not in compensation of damage.
The Constitutional Court has not yet freed its premises to the institution of the Ombudsperson as per the decision of the Ministry of Local Government Administration issued back in 2012. The reasons for the two-year delay have not been revealed by the Constitutional Court’s officials who were unavailable for comment but the paper notes that the accommodation of the Ombudsperson institution is one of the criteria included in the visa liberalization roadmap.
Representatives of the three opposition parties held a press conference today where they talked about the recent arrests of the opposition MPs saying that they were arrested in an improper way. Sami Kurteshi from Vetevendosje Movement said the MPs who were arrested for the same offense were imposed different measures. Bajram Ajeti from the Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) added that MPs are a special category and as such have many rights. "All actions of the arrests have violated the Constitution of Kosovo. The MPs enjoy immunity.
Kosovo Assembly Deputy Speaker and MP from non-Serb minority, Duda Balje, told the news site that the non-Serb minority group in the Kosovo Assembly will support Hashim Thaci’s candidacy for President. "The 6+ parliamentary group has talked about the presidential elections and if Mr. Thaci will be the candidate, he will have the support of our group,” she said. Foreign Minister Hashi Thaci stated that he expects to become President in 2016, according to the agreement reached with the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).