Exactly six months after the early parliamentary elections of Kosovo, Pristina yesterday inaugurated the new Assembly of Kosovo. Elected President of the Assembly is an official of the PDK, Kadri Veseli, a former chief of the Intelligence Service of the KLA, known as SHIK. At the time of this commentary it was expected that the parliament would pass a new government.
Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic announced, calling on the EU Enlargement Commissioner Johannes Hahn, that official Belgrade will have to choose between Kosovo and Europe, on the European road.
A round table debate dubbed “Parliaments of Serbia and Kosovo and normalization of relations” is due to take place today in Pristina in the organization of the American Council for Inclusive Management and the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland.
MPs from almost all parliamentary caucuses of both assemblies should discuss the role of these institutions in the process of normalization of relations between Belgrade and Pristina.
The head of the Serbian List (SL) Aleksandar Jablanovic negated the writing of Pristina-based media that SL, which has nine MPs in the Kosovo parliament, has requested two ministerial posts in the coalition government of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).
The latest coalition of Kosovar Albanians – the PDK and the LDK, of Hashim Thaci and Isa Mustafa has not yet started formal negotiations on the composition of the new government of Kosovo with representatives of the Kosovo Serbs, said to Danas, the presidents of the Serbian List and the Progressive Democratic Party (PDS) Aleksandar Jablanovic and Nenad Rasic.
The new head of EULEX, Gabriele Meucci started the first visit to Belgrade yesterday, since the entry into the office, with a meeting with the Head Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Djuric.
The press release of EULEX stated that Meucci and Djuric talked about the new mandate of the EU mission, with special emphasis on the north of Kosovo. This press release reported that the new head of the mission said that "EULEX is committed to strengthening the rule of law in northern Kosovo."
At a recent meeting of the ministers of foreign affairs and the economy of the region, held in Belgrade, was not officially agreed that next meeting will be held in Pristina, was said from the Cabinet of the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Johannes Hahn. According to them, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo, Enver Hoxhaj only proposed that the next meeting could be held in Pristina, but that has not yet been decided.
BELGRADE -- The permits for visits by Serbian officials to Kosovo and Metohija will in the future be obtained through liaison officers.
This is not "the first step towards the establishment of diplomatic relations," Belgrade's liaison officer in Priština Dejan Pavićević has been quoted as saying by the Belgrade-based daily Danas.
From the praise of the EU and US officials on account of the recent visit of Prime Minister of Albania, Edi Rama, to Serbia, despite Rama’s statement in the middle of Belgrade that "Kosovo's independence is a reality," could be understood that the (un) diplomatic incident will not jeopardize the continued political dialogue Belgrade and Pristina.
Moreover, the British Ambassador in Pristina, Ian Cliff warned yesterday that without the continuation of dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade, the security of the region will come into question.
Florian Qehaja, analyst from Pristina
Generally speaking, there is no doubt that the effect of EULEX mission was limited, bringing only few results compared to the expectations and goals that mission had. The satisfaction which prevailed in the European External Action Service because of EULEX, the largest EU mission in the world, was seriously shaken by the small efficiency of the mission, told Danas Florian Qehaja, executive director of the Kosovo Centre for Security Studies in Pristina.