Yesterday, officials of the Kosovo Customs and Kosovo Police confiscated machines owned by Belgrade company ‘Magistrala’, which maintains and cleans around 80 kilometers of roads in northern Kosovo. They confiscated five trucks, a snow plow truck and a vehicle. On the eve of the next round of negotiations between Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels this information has created additional turmoil.
In its latest report the US-based international human rights group Freedom House, has ranked Kosovo among partly free countries along with regional countries like Albania, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbia however was moved to the category of free countries. With regards to political rights, Kosovo scored 3 points in contrast with 4 last year on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). The state of civil liberties remains unchanged at 4.
Political representatives of Albanians from southern central Serbia have demanded that the Kosovo authorities involve them in the dialogue with Belgrade in Brussels. They seek the same rights as Kosovo Serbs, reported media in Pristina.
President of the National Council of Albanians from the Presevo Valley, Jonuz Musliu together with the heads of the municipalities of Presevo and Bujanovac in Pristina yesterday demanded a mutual solution to the issue of the status of Albanians in the Presevo Valley.
Vetevendosje Movement MP, Rexhep Selimi, said that except for the people of Kosovo, Serbian agents tapped significant international personalities in Kosovo, to provide information to Russian intelligence.
From 25 to 29 January, lawmakers of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will present their reports and adopt resolutions on the most immediate international issues, reports the media.
International terrorism
The Serbian Ambassador to Turkey, Danilo Vucetic, said to the Turkish daily Zaman, that that the EU is requesting Serbia to sign a legally binding agreement, which he can only interpret as the EU's attempts to force Serbia to recognize Kosovo.
Vucetic said the Brussels Agreement, which was drawn up between Serbia and Kosovo in 2013 under the auspices of the EU but not signed by either, envisages Serbia's recognition of Kosovo after all negotiating chapters are completed.
Following the European Parliament’s ratification of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) between the EU and Kosovo, the parliament’s rapporteur for Kosovo Ulrike Lunacek hailed the move as historical. “This agreement is a landmark in Kosovo’s relationship with the EU and its development as a European state. For the first time, the EU and Kosovo will enter into a contractual agreement, which is another important step on Kosovo’s path towards EU integration,” said Lunacek in a statement.
The date has yet to be set for Serbian early parliamentary and, most likely, local elections. The media speculate that they will take place on 24 April, and Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said that such claims are not unrealistic. There is a probability that the Serbian parliamentary elections will take place in Kosovo as well, however the government of Kosovo will have to give its final say about the modalities.
Chairman of the Kosovo Assembly Foreign Affairs Committee Enver Hoxhaj said Kosovo aims to apply for EU candidate status within a three-year period. Hoxhaj, former Foreign Minister, made the comment in a press conference following a meeting with a group of Austrian officials. Hoxhaj said Austria is Kosovo’s partner in the visa liberalization process and stressed the importance of this support in pursuing Kosovo’s European integration journey.
The situation in Kosovo is very dangerous due to the use of violence for political purposes, stated British Ambassador to Kosovo Ruairi O’Connell. “It is a democratic right of the opposition to oppose international agreements, and criticism should be voiced, however, in my opinion, it cannot be done through the use of force,” said O’Connell on Monitor TV show on RTK.