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Dialogue has no alternative (Koha Ditore)

Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj recalls in his opinion piece that “dialogue has no alternative” was the most frequent sentence used by EU officials and diplomats whenever someone had remarks about certain developments in the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia. Palokaj writes: “There is no doubt that dialogue has no alternative. One needs to be crazy, an extremist or radical to argue against dialogue. This is about dialogue as a principle of resolving conflicts and disagreements.

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Conspiracy theories even for the progress reports (Koha)

Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj argues in his opinion piece “almost all countries in the Balkans believe that the publication of the European Commission’s Progress Reports has been postponed due to developments in these countries”. “In Kosovo because of the Assembly crisis; in Montenegro due to protests, in Macedonia due to the crisis of implementing the agreement between the political parties, in Albania because of CEZ or ‘decriminalization’, in Serbia because of ‘Chapter 35’ and in Bosnia-Herzegovina due to Republika Srpska’s threat to hold a referendum.

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Solidarity, as a foundation of the EU, is crumbling (Koha Ditore)

Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj writes in his opinion piece that throughout its history, the European Union has found ways to overcome numerous divisions. “More recently, it even passed the biggest test so far, how to save Greece from bankruptcy. But the next challenge, a common European response to the refugee crisis, has caused so much accusations and counter-accusations between the member states, that it has shaken the very foundations of the European Union built on the principle of solidarity between the member states,” Palokaj writes.

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Is Kosovo a safe place or not? (Koha Ditore)

The paper’s Brussels-based correspondent, Augustin Palokaj, in an opinion piece today writes that the European Union considers Kosovo as a safe place of origin in terms of access to asylum seekers from Kosovo. But, according to him, the EU and many member states consider the security situation in Kosovo still "fragile". “The EU also faces a logical question: If Kosovo is a safe place, then why it needs foreign soldiers and police officers.

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The three truths of the dialogue (Koha Ditore)

The paper’s Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj in an opinion piece recalls that Kosovo’s Minister without portfolio, Edita Tahiri, said that Serbia’s Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic signed an agreement with Kosovo with the acronym “Republic of Kosovo” written on the documents. “Surprisingly in the EU they say that ‘this is true’, but in the same way Kosovo’s Prime Minister Isa Mustafa signed agreements which say that everything in the territory of Kosovo is property of the Republic of Serbia,” Palokaj writes.

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Deep mistrust between Kosovars and internationals (Koha Ditore)

The paper’s Brussels-based correspondent, Augustin Palokaj, argues in his opinion piece that one today can easily find senior Western diplomats who unofficially express negative remarks about certain Kosovo’s politicians. “And certainly, Chuck Sudetic, a former associate of Carla del Ponte, was able to find such diplomats in Brussels and Washington when he authored a very incriminating article against Hashim Thaci and Kosovo’s leadership”.

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Serbia’s double play with Srebrenica (Koha Ditore)

The paper’s Brussels-based correspondent, Augustin Palokaj, writes today that the Government of Serbia on one side, with the help of Russia, blocks the United Nations Resolution on Srebrenica and refuses to accept that the massacre of more than 8,000 men in Srebrenica was genocide, while on the other side the Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic takes part in the commemoration of the 20th anniversary of this massacre.

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Why does Kosovo need a special court if it has really achieved so much progress (Koha)

Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj writes in his opinion piece that “it would have been much better if there was a situation where the opponents of the special court would be able to say that Kosovo doesn’t need the special court because the independent and sovereign Kosovo has its own independent and professional court that can address every serious case”.

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Without profiling of political parties, democracy in Kosovo will not function (Koha Ditore)

Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj argues in his opinion piece that “the elections in the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) proved that there is not that much pluralism in this party as initially thought and that ‘delegates’ vote according to their own personal interests. There is room for ‘new faces’ only if they don’t have any ideas and if they support the dominating group. The LDK, by helping the PDK [Democratic Party of Kosovo] to become a member of the European People’s Party, is heading toward creating a mega party with the PDK.

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What are the attitudes of the Albanian politicians? (Koha Ditore)

The paper’s Brussels-based correspondent, Augustin Palokaj, writes in an opinion piece that the Albanian politicians in Tirana, Pristina, Skopje or somewhere else are behaving more like analysts than like leaders. Palokaj writes that when serious problems and crises occur, when people want to hear their stances as leaders, they either remain silent, or expect international reactions to decide what line to follow. “The situation in the Balkans is still fragile and quite serious.

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