Mayor of Mitrovica, Agim Bahtiri, has reacted to what he considered to be the most serious provocation to peace and security in Mitrovica and called on Kosovo institutions to undertake all necessary measures to bring normality to the city.

Bahtiri said that the decision of northern leadership to begin construction of a square on the northern bank of River Iber/Ibar is a criminal act and is politically motivated. He also said this construction will prevent normalization of the overall situation.

Contraband of MPs, according to Kosovo analysts, is one of the only alternatives left to the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) to be able to form the government. However, this seems to be very difficult due to the opposition’s unification to prevent a third term for a Thaci-led government.

Fisnik Korenica from the Judicial and Political Studies Group said that the fact the opposition is united shows that PDK will have a very hard time in trying to contraband MPs from other parties.

Leader of Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Isa Mustafa, said that the party’s thirty MPs are unified in their objectives.

Mustafa said LDK MPs don’t consider a government with Alliance for Future of Kosovo (AAK) and Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) as an ideal solution but accept it as a better and necessary alternative to stop a Thaci-led government and begin changes in strengthening the legal state.

Deputy leader of Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Hajredin Kuci, doesn’t seem overly pleased with the idea of a technical government being installed in Kosovo in the absence of sufficient numbers for forming the new government.

Asked what would be the PDK’s position in face of a decision to create a technical government, Kuci said: “That issue is not a topic”. Asked about the possibility of the head of the future government being chosen through an envelope like President Atifete Jahjaga, Kuci said this is a hypothetical situation.

Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj met today with German ambassador Peter Blomeyer to discuss the conclusion of the Stabilization/Association Agreement for Kosovo and bilateral relations between Kosovo and Germany. Hoxhaj briefed Blomeyer on the progress in Kosovo, especially about the completion of requirements from the visa liberalization process and the SAA. Hoxhaj thanked the German government for supporting Kosovo’s Euro-Atlantic future and for confirming its role as a strategic partner of Kosovo.

Isa Mustafa, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), writes on his Facebook account that the agreement with the other two opposition parties, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and the Initiative for Kosovo (Nisma), will set a timeline and framework for dialogue with Serbia. “We will follow policies of cooperation and increased partnership in harmony with our orientations and objectives that we presented to our electorate and the people.

The fourth high-level meeting in the framework of visa liberalization dialogue between Kosovo and European Commission took place in Pristina today.

Kosovo delegation was led by Minister of European Integrations, Vlora Citaku, and Interior Minister, Bajram Rexhepi, while European Commission was represented by general director of internal affairs, Matthias Ruete, head of EU office in Pristina, Samuel Zbogar, director of the general directorate for enlargement, Jean Eric Paquet.

European Union has extended the mandate to its rule of law mission in Kosovo for another two years.

In a statement, European governments said EULEX will begin to reduce its executive functions in the justice sector and added that prosecutors do not plan on taking on new cases.

They also said that the mission will be downsized in order to reflect the change of its activity.

The Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) issued a reaction today saying that after the signing of the agreement between the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and NISMA, the Central Election Commission stopped counting votes at 99.83 percent of votes. “After the announcement of the agreement, the CEC did not announce any information about results from the last four ballot boxes, which make up 0.17 percent of votes!

Independent Media Commission (IMC) today presented the preliminary report on the media monitoring during parliamentary election campaign. The IMC found violation of provisions of the Law on General Elections, specifically of article 49 which describes the way a political advertising is identified.

However, as these violations were minor, the media concerned were informed of their violations and through a better intercommunication they avoided being sanctioned. IMC announced that the overall reporting during election campaign was fair and unbiased.