Main Stories 4June

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  • Government views Mitrovica as crucial to decentralization (Koha Ditore)
  • UN Security Council to debate Kosovo on 17 June (Zëri)
  • EULEX: Local judges under pressure from politics (Koha Ditore)
  • UNMIK imposed a failed administration (Bota Sot)
  • Pristina and Belgrade pledge to do more on missing persons issue (dailies)
  • The first arrest (Express)
  • Encourages diplomatic relations (Express/dailies)
  • Diplomatic tales (Express/dailies)
  • TI publishes report on corruption in the world (dailies)
  • Pacolli: El Salvador recognised Kosovo (Epoka e Re, Lajm)
  • Serbs oppose customs control at two Kosovo-Serbia border-points (Zëri)

Kosovo Media Highlights

Government views Mitrovica as crucial to decentralization (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore reports that although the least progress from the Comprehensive Proposal on Kosovo’s status has been achieved in the municipality of Mitrovica, officials of the Ministry for Local Governance said that this municipality remains crucial to the implementation of the process of decentralization and the potential impact it may have on other Serb-inhabited areas in Kosovo.

Representatives of the Ministry for Local Governance said at a press conference in Pristina on Wednesday that there are encouraging signs from Kosovo Serbs and there is growing interest from the Serb community in the decentralization process.

“Members of the Serb community have recently shown increased interest in the process of decentralization. There is growing interest among Mitrovica citizens to cooperate with each other and improve the quality of life,” said Local Governance Minister Sadri Ferati.

Ferati also argued, “Serbs are not satisfied with the parallel structures as it brings them an isolated life. If Belgrade continues with this approach it will damage the Serb community in Kosovo. Serbs are also facing a dilemma, they will lose the aid they receive from Belgrade if they accept this process and thus become part of Kosovo institutions.”

UN Security Council to debate Kosovo on 17 June (Zëri)

UNMIK officials confirmed that UN Security Council will discuss the situation in Kosovo mid June. UNMIK Spokesperson Alexander Ivanko is quoted as saying that the meeting and the agenda will be set by Security Council authorities.

“SRSG plans to present his regular report in this session,” said Ivanko. The paper writes that it is likely that SRSG Lamberto Zannier will once again brief the Security Council on the increasing rejections of Kosovo institutions to cooperate with UNMIK.

EULEX: Local judges under pressure from politics (Koha Ditore)

Koha Ditore reports that EULEX judges have admitted that local judges in Kosovo in several cases are under pressure from politics. President ofthe Assembly of the EULEX judges in Kosovo, Maria Giuliana Civinini, said that in a certain judicial case involving a Kosovar politician, a local judge called on EULEX to take over the case due to the pressure that he was facing from politics.

“So far I have experienced only one case when a local judge called on us to take over his case, because he was facing pressure from a Kosovar politician. Our prosecutors and judges intervened in the case. We will enable local judges to be free from pressure that may come from within, but also from outside,” Civinini was quoted as saying.

UNMIK imposed a failed administration (Bota Sot)

In the leading front-page story, Bota Sot argues that the United Nations Mission has imposed a failed public administration in Kosovo. The paper further adds that it is not known when the administration will stop despising the integrity of citizens, who are forced to wait in long cues in frustration.

According to the paper, the administration in Kosovo is an improvised system since the communist era and is prevailed by the mentality imposed by UNMIK. The paper also says that one of the objectives of UNMIK was to make the administration non-functional.

Pristina and Belgrade pledge to do more on missing persons issue (dailies)

Delegations from Pristina and Belgrade met yesterday and discussed the issue of missing persons whereby they pledged to do more to address this problem. The meeting was mediated by the International Committee of Red Cross which in a press release after the meeting said that the two sides provided information of potential sites that could contain remains of people considered missing.

The first arrest (Express)

Express reports that Kosovo Police has arrested three suspects for the theft of drugs from the room of evidence at the Kosovo Police Headquarters. Based on its sources within the police, this daily reports that the police arrested the suspects on Tuesday around 20:15 hrs, two of them from Pristina and one from Mitrovica, at Hani i Elezit border crossing, and they were brought to Pristina late at night.

“They were questioned on Wednesday in the presence of their lawyers,” this source is quoted as saying. The police has also detained to women who were in company of the suspects during the arrest.

Express reports that Kosovo Police has not made public the names of the suspects in their press release. “At the moment of the arrest, one of the suspects had documents with false identity, and the same tried to escape at the border crossing, however, the police managed to arrest him,” says the press release.

Encourages diplomatic relations (Express,dailies)

Express reports that the European Union ambassador in Skopje, Ervan Fuere, has called on Macedonia and Kosovo to overcome issues that can worsen the diplomatic relation between the two countries.

“We welcome a solution of issues that remains unsolved, such as demarcation of border line and arrangement of diplomatic relations.” Fuere’s reaction comes after deterioration of diplomatic relations between Macedonia and Kosovo.

Diplomatic tales (Express, dailies)

Express reports that the head of Serbian diplomacy Vuk Jeremic has said that he achieved to disrupt a collective recognition of Kosovo independence from American states in the summit in Honduras. “One more success, Serbia achieved that there will not be new wave of recognition of Kosovo,” said Jeremic on Wednesday to Serb media. “The relations of strength remains on the Serbian side,” said Jeremic.

According to Qerim Qerimi, Political Advisor to the Kosovo Foreign Minister, Jeremic statements don’t find support in the real world. “Serbia’s Foreign Minister simply invents tales that Kosovo is going to be recognized as a group, not aware that recognitions do not happen that way. The purpose is to afterwards present it as a result of Serbia’s diplomacy, which has been without results for one year,” said Qerimi toExpress.

Similar statements Jeremic gave during the Islamic Conference meeting in Damascus in Syria, where he stated that he achieved to eliminate the paragraph of the resolution which called on member states of Islamic conference to recognize Kosovo.

The Serbian Analyst Dusan Janjic says that there is no mechanism for combined group recognitions, since those are separate decisions by respective governments.

“Conferences are a chance to achieve common political will, but it does not mean collective recognition. It creates an atmosphere where individual countriescan easier take decisions,” said Janjic.

TI publishes report on corruption in the world (dailies)

Transparency International has published a report assessing the level of corruption in 69 countries across the world. In the Global Corruption Barometer, Kosovo is marked with 3.4, where 5 marks is the most extreme level of corruption. According to the report, the most affected sectors include justice and political parties, however, Kosovo has the lowest level of corruption in the region.

Infopress reports that officials from the Kosovo Government have said the report is realistic and good news for Kosovo. Spokesperson Memli Krasniqi told the paper that Kosovo has in fact a better ranking than some EU member countries.

Pacolli: El Salvador recognised Kosovo (Epoka e Re, Lajm)

AKR leader Behxhet Pacolli is quoted as saying that El Salvadorhas recognised independence of Kosovo Tuesday evening and that the decision will be confirmed by the country’s parliamentin the next coming week.

Pacolli is reported to have attended the inauguration of El Salvador’s new President Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena and has also visited the Dominican Republic to lobby for recognition of Kosovo’s independence.

Serbs oppose customs control at two Kosovo-Serbia border-points (Zëri)

Zëri reports that as a sign of disagreement with EULEX’s customs control at the two border crossings between Kosovo and Serbia, around 150 Kosovo Serbs blocked the road in vicinity of the railway station of Leposavic, while another 300 Kosovo Serbs protested in Zubin Potok. Kosovo Police official for public information, Besim Hoti, said that protests in three different locations were registered inthe Mitrovica region on Wednesday.

According to Serbian media, representatives of the so called Association of Serb Municipalities in the North of Kosovo, claim that EULEX has positioned itself on the side of independent state of Kosovo, through the implementation of border controls at the two border crossings.

Kosovo Press Headlines

Koha Ditore

Front page

  • Neighbours ignore Kosovo
  • Government views Mitrovica as crucial to decentralization
  • Three people arrested and two stopped over theft at police
  • EULEX: Local judges are under pressure from politics
  • Knives are ruining security in schools
  • Kosovars, optimistic over membership in the World Bank

Other headlines

  • Isak Krasniqi degraded and removed from PTK (3)
  • Pristina and Belgrade with mutual requests for fate of missing (4)
  • Independent Supervisory Board returns Xhema to work (4)
  • Construction of Zhur Hydropower Plant to commence soon (9)

Zëri

Front page

  • Due to delays in CEC, local elections in second half of November?
  • Scheffer: Too early to talk about KFOR withdrawal from Kosovo
  • UN Security Council to debate on Kosovo on 17th June
  • Police arrests three suspects over theft at Evidence Room
  • Albanian judges are not expected to return to Mitrovica Court soon
  • Kosovo with a high level of corruption
  • MPs say there is no agreement but they will elect People’s Attorney

Other headlines

  • Podgorica too ignores the President of Kosovo (2)
  • Editorial: The mutual interests of Kosovo and Macedonia (3)
  • Jeremic: We have prevented the massive recognition of Kosovo (4)
  • Pristina and Belgrade pledge to engage more on issue of missing (5)
  • Minister Ferati: Decentralization will improve life of citizens (6)

Kosova Sot

Front page

  • Justice and parties the most corrupted
  • Law on members of Assembly blocked
  • Kosovo with consular services by the year’s end
  • Information on missing persons exchanged in Belgrade
  • Editorial: Delayed reform

Other headlines

  • North as guiding point in the north (2)
  • UN: Session on Kosovo on 17 June (2)
  • Scheffer: NATO should not withdraw from Kosovo (3)
  • USAID will continue to support Kosovo (4)
  • Official Podgorica behaves like Skopje (4)
  • Three suspects arrested for the police theft (9)

Epoka e Re

Front page

  • Kosovo – the least corrupted in the region
  • Pacolli: El Salvador has recognised Kosovo
  • Sami Kurteshi new Ombudsperson?
  • Tahiri: Unnecessary commotion
  • Three suspects arrested

Other headlines

  • Albanians criticize Vujanovic (2)
  • Munter: USA doesn’t request Serbia to recognise Kosovo (2)
  • Kosovo not yet in the UN, that is why it wasn’t invited in Cetinje (3)
  • Emrush Xhemajli: There are deputies interested in the Socialist Party (4)
  • Serbs continue to oppose control in border points in the north (4)
  • EULEX does not promise quick resumption of work in Mitrovica (5)
  • EULEX returns the case to be retried [Idriz Gashi] (7)
  • Missing persons discussed in Belgrade (7)
  • Decentralisation continuing (8)

Express

Front page

  • The first arrest
  • The last consult
  • Kosovo in the list, for positive reasons
  • Diplomatic fairy tale

Other headlines

  • Rexhepi: On Sude’s road (2)
  • Shkullaku: On the edge of balance (3)
  • Recognition within the week (4)
  • Kosovo is not a UN member yet, therefore it is not part of Cetinje (5)
  • Encourages diplomatic relations (5)
  • Too early to withdraw (5)
  • 2009 budget approved (6)

Lajm

Front page

  • Boycott of Macedonian goods
  • AKSH reappears
  • Pacolli: Salvador recognized Kosovo
  • They do not guarantee transparency
  • Local elections delayed for the next year

Other headlines

  • United for decentralization (2)
  • Selected candidates – later (3)
  • Delays even in accelerated procedures (4)
  • Information on the missing exchanged (4)
  • The protest against border control (5)
  • Kosovo member of World Bank (6)
Bota Sot

Front page

  • UNMIK imposed failed administration
  • Assembly members “don’t have time” to read!
  • For the cases of investigations EULEX does not inform Kosovo President

Other headlines

  • Scheffer against the KFOR withdrawal from Kosovo (3)
  • Voting for Kosovo in the World Bank (3)
  • General assembly of OAS continues proceedings (3)
  • The most corrupted sector in Kosovo, Judiciary (4)
  • Teki Dervishi: Europe wants peace in Kosovo, and not freedom (5)
  • Krasniqi: Kosovo youth part of European movements (7)
  • Prime Minister Thaçi welcomed Ismail Kadare (8)
InfoPress

Front page

  • Kosovo is building
  • Transparency International makes public the report about corruption in 69 states of the world

Other headlines

  • Advance in exchange of information (2)
  • President Sejdiu ignored again (3)
  • National judges, key of the success (4)
  • Mitrovica point of referral in decentralization (5)
  • Today to be elected ombudsperson (5)
  • Ten more possible recognitions (5)
  • Bugajski: I did not say that Skopje can annul recognition (5)
  • Scandal Drugs, three arrested (6)
  • From the World Bank it is expected official confirmation (7)

Belgrade Media Highlights3 June

  • Jaap de Hoop Scheffer: Too Early for KFOR’s Withdrawal
  • Thaci Lays Foundation Stone for Spasic Family
  • Ljajic Asks UN to Allow ICTY Sentences to be Served in Serbia
  • Istvan Pastor Criticizes Tadic Over Vojvodina Statute
  • Opinion Poll Shows Tadic and Democrats Most Popular
  • Bildt: I Cannot Help Karadzic
  • SE European Summit to be Held in Montenegro

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer: Too Early for KFOR’s Withdrawal

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has said in Paris that the withdrawal of KFOR from Kosovo would be premature and that the future of these forces will be discussed by the defense ministers of the NATO member-states on 11 and 12 June in Brussels, Beta reports. There are about 16,000 KFOR troops in Kosovo, Politika reported. According to Scheffer, withdrawal of KFOR would be “premature at this point as it would put at risk the results achieved over the past years,” said Scheffer.

Thaci Lays Foundation Stone for Spasic Family

Kosovo Premier Hashim Thaci laid yesterday the foundation stone for the house of the Spasic returnee family in the village of Janina Voda, near Obilic, Politika reported. The Kosovo Ministry of Returns and Communities is funding the construction of their house. Thaci welcomed the three-member family “to a new, multi-ethnic and tolerant Kosovo,” Tanjug reports.

Ljajic Asks UN to Allow ICTY Sentences to be Served in Serbia

President of the National Council for Cooperation with ICTY Rasim Ljajic sent a letter to the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon asking that the convicts sentenced by ICTY be allowed to serve their terms in prisons in Serbia, Borba reported. In his letter to Ban Ki-moon, Ljajic said that Serbia guaranteed security in its prisons and that the convicts would “not have the right to be freed from prison before the end of their sentences without ICTY’s approval”. ICTY Chief Prosecutor Serge Brammertz is to present his report on Serbia’s cooperation with ICTY to the UN Security Council tomorrow. According to unofficial information, Brammertz’s report says that the remaining fugitives Ratko Mladic and Goran Hadzic are within Serbia’s reach.

Istvan Pastor Criticizes Tadic Over Vojvodina Statute

Leader of the Alliance of Vojvodina Hungarians (SVM) Istvan Pastor has accused Serbian President Boris Tadic of violating the Serbian Constitution with his recent statement that the issue of Statute of Vojvodina will be dealt with as part of regionalization and constitutional reform, the daily Borba reported. “What we heard on Saturday from Tadic is obviously a scenario of his own and a message to the public in Serbia that for the President of the Republic the letter of the Constitution means nothing”, said Pastor. Tadic said that there was a danger for the ideas of regionalization and decentralization to create turfs ruled by local elites instead of to be a way to democratization. According to Tadic, regionalization is normally approached in Serbia from a historical perspective which is “a dysfunctional approach, in some cases threatening the very idea of decentralization”. Tadic also said that the new regions would not look like Kosovo or Vojvodina that had been created along historical principles. The SVM and LSV (League of Social democrats of Vojvodina) maintain that the issue of the Statute of Vojvodina “cannot and must not be linked with the issue of decentralization and regionalization of Serbia - processes that depend on future constitutional reforms”, Borba reported.

Opinion Poll Shows Tadic and Democrats Most Popular

Ahead of local elections in two Belgrade’s municipalities – Zemun and Vozdovac, a public opinion survey conducted by the agency Strategic Marketing shows that the Democratic Party (DS) is the most popular party in Serbia while its president Boris Tadic is the most popular politician, Vecernje Novosti reported. According to this poll, the Serb Progressive Party of Tomislav Nikolic comes second, followed by the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) of Vojislav Kostunica and Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Cedomir Jovanovic. Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) of Ivica Dacic would not make it past the threshold into the Parliament, said Strategic Marketing. The same opinion survey shows that the President Tadic is the most popular of Serbian politicians and that the Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic comes second, followed by Tomislav Nikolic and Aleksandar Vucic of SNS, Vecernje Novosti reported.

Bildt: I Cannot Help Karadzic

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt has stated he has no information that could help Radovan Karadzic, the former Republika Srpska (RS) president, said a press release by the Swedish Ministry of Justice as reported by Politika. “Mr. Bildt is of the view that he has no relevant information on the alleged immunity agreement,” states the Swedish Justice Ministry. “Even if the assertion of the immunity agreement was correct, it would have no relevance to whether the accused was guilty or innocent of the charges against him.” Karadzic claims that Bildt was in daily contact with the then US envoy Richard Holbrooke in the summer of 1996, and that “they were jointly responsible for obtaining the resignation of Karadzic.”