Kosovo President, Hashim Thaci, said today that in line with his promises when he took up office, he has requested and initiated the amendment of the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Code. “I have made this request in order to eliminate legal gaps and to strengthen the laws,” Thaci said at the first meeting of the working group that will amend the Criminal Code and Criminal Procedure Code, organised by the Ministry of Justice. Thaci also said: “we are witnesses to global changes and Kosovo is not immune to the current threats.

President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, called on the European Union to discontinue conditioning visa liberalisation as Kosovo more progress in meeting European standards than other countries in the region. In a meeting of the National Anti-Corruption Council, Thaci said: “The completely unfair approach on the part of European Union towards Kosovo is preventing the citizens from travelling freely without visas. The country has made more progress than any other country in the region in the fight against corruption and organised crime.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci through a Facebook post today said that illegal operations and the current obstacles would be eliminated entirely with the telephone code for Kosovo. He added that this strengthens the position of Kosovo in the field of telecommunications, and opens ways for the state program of digitization. “The position of our country is strengthened even more in the international arena with the new code in the field of telecommunications. +383 telephone code is the property of Kosovo, which will be administered by our institutions.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci participated today in the launch of OSCE’s information campaign on package of laws on human rights. Thaci said that the rights and fundamental freedoms are indivisible, inalienable and inviolable and are the basis of the legal order guaranteed by the Constitution of Kosovo. According to him, the legal framework regulating the field of human rights is significantly advanced with the adoption of a package of laws on human rights, including the Law on Protection from Discrimination, the Law on Gender Equality and Law on Ombudsman.

The President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, congratulated the elected President of the United States, Donald Trump, for the victory in the presidential elections.

President Thaçi has said that the permanent friendship between Kosovo and the USA  is the basis on which the deepening of the bilateral cooperation will continue.

On behalf of the people and institutions of Kosovo, President Thaçi has also wished the elected US President a successful mandate in the implementation of the priorities of the American people.

All media cover today’s meeting on election reform called by Kosovo President Hashim Thaci. Opposition parties did not attend the meeting arguing that Kosovo needs early parliamentary elections instead of an election reform.

By Hashim Thaci,
President of Kosovo

Kosovo has been in a visa liberalisation dialogue with the EU for nearly five years now, and has been working towards this goal for much longer than that. Its neighbours in the region have all but forgotten what they went through over six years ago, by now so used to this basic freedom. Is Kosovo so different from its neighbours? High-level European Commission officials said a year and a half ago that Kosovo is to ‘walk the last mile’ toward visa-free status. One is left to wonder, how long is that last mile?

President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, announced early elections in the municipality of Drenas/Glogovac for 4 December and he also instructed the Central Elections Commission to undertake all necessary steps to organise the voting process.

Kosovo President, Hashim Thaci, said in an interview for Austrian daily newspaper Die Presse that dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade seems worse than it actually is and added he was confident that both parties will soon reach a point of having normal negotiations. “Certainly, the European Union as a mediator in the process must see if the agreements that have been reached are being implemented.

Kosovo’s Justice Minister, Dhurata Hoxha, today while reporting to the Committee on Legislation, spoke about the arrest of the Kosovo Police regional director, Nehat Thaci, by Serbian authorities. Hoxha said that "the Ministry of Justice has sent a verbal note to Serbia about Thaci’s arrest.” She also said that there was a hearing session yesterday for Nehat Thaci, but that “the ministry has no information regarding this process.”