Kosovo Prime Minister, Isa Mustafa, said today that he would make efforts to coordinate positions with the opposition before resubmitting the border demarcation deal with Montenegro to the Kosovo Assembly. “I think we will meet with the opposition be it directly or in other ways with the participation of foreign ambassadors too. We will try to coordinate our positions before resending the agreement to the Assembly.

Kosovo Assembly President, Kadri Veseli, met today with the chairman and members of the parliamentary committee for foreign affairs, as part of efforts to strengthen Kosovo’s parliamentary diplomacy and lobbying on issues of special interest to Kosovo.

The British Ambassador to Kosovo, Ruairi O’Connell, said in an interview with the news website today that the “Pronto” affair is not the only evidence of corruption within Kosovo’s institutions. “We need to combat the culture of nepotism where people are employed based on family ties,” he said. O’Connell said the Kosovo government should seriously address the fight against terror. The British Ambassador also said that Kosovo deserves visa liberalisation but that it needs to meet the requirements first.

Opposition parties in Kosovo have not welcomed the government’s request to change their position on the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro, the news website reports. The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA) said today they were not willing to make any compromise that damages the country. AAK deputy leader, Ahmet Isufi, said the government needs to dismiss the committee that worked on the border delineation and to resume negotiations with Montenegro. “The government committee made mistakes in their work.

Kosovo’s Foreign Minister, Enver Hoxhaj, said today that the universal recognition of Kosovo’s independence and statehood remains the top priority of Kosovo’s foreign policy. In his report to the Kosovo Assembly’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Hoxhaj said his ministry was making outstanding efforts to increase the number of recognitions of Kosovo’s independence. “Kosovo will get three new recognitions by the end of the year.

Serb members of the Kosovo Assembly did not participate at the September 1 session that was scheduled to vote on the border demarcation agreement between Kosovo and Montenegro. Following the Serb boycott, the ruling coalition was forced to remove the border deal from the assembly’s agenda. Prime Minister Isa Mustafa said a broad-based roundtable would be organised with political parties to discuss the border deal with Montenegro, but the meeting has yet to take place.

Ramush Haradinaj, leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), said in an interview for the news website, that the border demarcation with Montenegro must be concluded in order to move forward with Kosovo’s development and not have delays on other issues. “Demarcation is an open issue and it needs to be closed. The Alliance [for the Future of Kosovo] and the Initiative for Kosovo, want the current agreement to be annulled and for a proper solution to be found,” he said.

Political analyst Nexhmedin Spahiu says that the question of the Temple of the Christ the Saviour in Pristina could been resolved if the Bishop of the Diocese of Raška and Prizren Teodosije and Deputy Prime Minister, Branimir Stojanović would seek the restoration of the mosque in North Mitrovica, which is located next to the main bridge.

The news website reports that leaders of the five parliamentary parties are expected to sign a joint declaration early next week pledging to work together in addressing the border demarcation with Montenegro. The declaration is expected to derive as a result of several meetings that were held between representatives of the ruling coalition and the opposition, initiated by Naim Rashiti from the Balkans Group and international stakeholders.

The position of Serbs, in Kosovo institutions, remains unchanged while there are no talks with Kosovo officials about the demarcation of the border between Kosovo and Montenegro, says member of the Assembly of Kosovo Nenad Rašić.

Rašić recalls that Serbian MPs have not been invited to any meeting concerning the demarcation of the border with Montenegro.