President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, met a group of activists for the rights of victims of sexual violence during conflict, headed by Feride Rushiti, director of the Kosovo Centre for Rehabilitation of Torture Victims.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), has condemned last night’s incidents where the flags of this country were burned in Gjilan and Peja, Kosovo, as a sign of protest to the verdict for the accused of the “Kumanovo Group.”

Kosovo’s Principal Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Behgjet Pacolli, said that diplomatic representations have not received any official information on withdrawal of the recognition of Kosovo by Suriname. He however did not exclude this possibility.

“So far, we do not have any sign that this state has withdrawn its recognition, which is very much possible, but we and our diplomatic representations have not received anything,” Pacolli told Telegrafi.

During yesterday’s debate at the Assembly of Kosovo over the opposition claims that Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) veterans’ lists were “inflated”, Finance Minister Bedri Hamza said that while at it, the issue of the “inflated” number of women raped during the conflict in Kosovo should also be addressed. “20,000 women were not raped during the war,” Hamza declared.

Kosovo’s Minister for European Integration, Dhurata Hoxha, met in Brussels the chair of the European Parliament foreign affairs committee, David McAllister. The two discussed current developments in Kosovo and the government’s priorities with regards to EU integration.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) will employ over 20,000 commissioners to monitor local elections throughout Kosovo, said head of CEC Valdete Daka. She added that over 1.9 million people are eligible to vote this Sunday and that the entire voting process will cost the Kosovo budget anywhere between 4.5 and 5 million euros.

The Finnish Foreign Minister, Timo Soini, said in Pristina today after meeting President Hashim Thaci that his country would continue support for Kosovo. Thaci on his part thanked FM Soini for the continuous support Finland has provided to Kosovo. “We should look into ways of deepening our cooperation also in economy, security, and education,” Thaci said.

Kosovo’s Minister of European Integration, Dhurata Hoxha, said in a meeting today with the German Ambassador, Christian Heldt, that Europe cannot be complete without the Western Balkans. “Our Euro-Atlantic journey is unstoppable and we are committed to achieve our citizens’ expectations,” Hoxha said.

Ambassador Heldt on his part stressed the important of successful implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) and offered Germany’s support in this process.

Kosovo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Behgjet Pacolli, met during his visit to Brussels the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Johannes Hahn, whom he informed that European integration remains the main goal of Kosovo’s foreign policy. In a Facebook post, Pacolli also said he expressed the commitment of Kosovo institutions to step up implementation of the European agenda, including Stabilisation and Association Agreement and visa liberalisation.

At the outset of local election campaign, the embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States called on all political parties and their candidates to commit to free, respectful, and peaceful campaigning.