The NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Operations, H.E. John MANZA visited KFOR Headquarters today.

The Ambassador of the United Kingdom  to Kosovo, Ruairi O’Connell, said during a round-table organized by Kosovo Rehabilitation Center for Torture Victims that the future government of Kosovo should establish a pension fund for the survivors of sexual abuse during the war.

Kosovo’s outgoing Minister of Interior, Skender Hyseni, received a letter from Interpol’s Secretary General, Jurgen Stock, regarding Kosovo’s application for membership. The letter says that a feasibility study has been finalized and submitted to the Executive Committee which has decided to vote on Kosovo’s membership application during upcoming Interpol’s General Assembly set to take place in September, in China.

The President of the German Bundestag, Norbert Lammert, said during his visit to Belgrade that Serbia should change its Constitution in order to join the EU. Lamert spoke about the manner this issue should precede. “Change of the Constitution should be made through dialogue at the Parliament, and then to move forward,” he said.

Serbian media also informed that the Serbian Radical Party boycotted the Parliament meeting with the justification that the German state has recognized Kosovo’s independence.

STRASBOURG, June 15, 2017 - The European Parliament adopted the progress reports of three countries in the Western Balkans, which are key for keeping the stability in the region. Though Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo are in different phases on their European path, it is important to continue the reforms in order to meet EU’s democratic and economic criteria.

http://www.diplomaticintelligence.eu/european-union-news/2551-macedonia-serbia-and-kosovo-key-players-for-stability-in-the-western-balkans

As it remains unclear who will form the government in Kosovo, the LDK appears to hold the key to any future coalition, now that the second-placed party, Vetevendosje, has invited it to join a post-election partnership.

Who will form the new government in Kosovo remains unclear, after the results of the 11 June elections failed to grant immediate power to any one political entity or coalition.

Slavko Simic, leader of the Serbian List, which won ten seats at Kosovo Assembly, said that the Serbian List has achieved its primary goal, by assuring sufficient number of MPs to block political initiatives which would be harmful for Serb population in Kosovo.

Kosovo charged nine men on June 15 with plotting terror attacks in Kosovo and at a World Cup soccer match between Israel and Albania last year.

The men were among 19 detained in a series of arrests in Kosovo and neighboring Albania and Macedonia ahead of the game in November, which was moved for security reasons from the northern Albanian town of Shkodra to a site closer to the Albanian capital, Tirana.

https://www.rferl.org/a/kosovo-charges-nine-terror-attacks-balkans/28554481.html

EU Enlargement Commissioner, Johannes Hahn, said yesterday at the European Parliament that dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade should resume and that Kosovo needs to continue reforms in the field of rule of law, economic development and education.

Hahn said elections in Kosovo were peaceful and that this was a sign of democratic maturity of the people. He also said Kosovo should keep up the pace with the rest of the Western Balkans and encourage economic growth and political stability.

The EU observers said in a press conference today that 11 June elections in Kosovo were generally peaceful. Head of the observers’ team, Alojz Peterle, however noted that a number of problems were present in these elections, namely inaccurate lists of voters, family voting, an increased presence of political party observers, voting of diaspora members, as well as voter intimidation in the north of Kosovo.