Government undecided on establishing north Mitrovica

• Government undecided on establishing north Mitrovica (Koha Ditore)
• Tahiri announces the end of technical dialogue (Koha Ditore)
• Drews: No compromise when freedom of movement is endangered (Koha)
• Germany shocked by attack on its soldiers in the north (Koha Ditore)
• EULEX Police arrest one of suspects for killing of Zymberi (dailies)
• Government to arrest Nikolic if he enters Kosovo without permission (Koha)
• Krasniqi against border changes (Zëri)
• Kryeziu: No bargaining for the north (Epoka e Re)
• Kosovo risks suffering the fate of Palestine (Koha Ditore)
• Reconstruction of houses to begin in the north (Zëri)
• Vujanovic conditions exchange of ambassadors (dailies)

Kosovo Media Highlights

Government undecided on establishing north Mitrovica (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports that in the decision for establishing Administrative Office of north Mitrovica, the Government did not express firm determination for this mechanism to exist until the new municipality in the north is established. Instead, it has left space for another solution. “Administrative Office of north Mitrovica will exist until the establishment of north Mitrovica municipality, or until otherwise decided by the Government”, reads the first paragraph of the decision.

This has caused the dilemma of whether the Government intends to create the north Mitrovica municipality as the Ahtisaari Plan foresees. The plan has been refused by Serbs who live in the north and this is why the municipality could not have been established until now.

Besnik Tahiri, director of the Institute for Local Governance expressed his opinion that the decision, which he considers as delayed, has problems in its formulation. “This wording is wrong, because the Kosovo Constitution says decisively that the municipality of north Mitrovica has to be established”, said Tahiri.

Member of the Assembly Sadri Ferati, former mayor of Mitrovica and former minister of local governance, expressed his stance that there should be no mid-way solution, except for the Office functioning until the new municipality is established. Until then, according to him, the administration in this Office should offer services to the citizens.

Tahiri announces the end of technical dialogue (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports that Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri has accepted the end of technical dialogue where she has represented Kosovar side for one year. She evaluated the dialogue as a process which has produced only papers and added that the dialogue should not continue until there are concrete results in the implementation of the agreements reached between Kosovo and Serbia.

One year after the start of the dialogue, the head of the Kosovo negotiating team said that what she predicted would happen from the outset of the dialogue, did indeed occur. “I will reveal what I told Mr. Cooper in the first meeting in Brussels on 8 March. I had told him that this technical dialogue is between two countries in the Balkans. We in the Balkans are masters in producing papers but find it difficult to go beyond them. Therefore, in order to transform these papers into concrete and practical results that would be of service to the lives of citizens and the promotion of European values, you as guarantor have an important role to play,” she said during a debate in Pristina.

On the final round of the dialogue, Tahiri is reported to have told the EU facilitator Robert Cooper that what the largest part of what the dialogue produced has remained on paper only. “I have requested many times from the EU additional measures towards Serbia for the non-implementation of the agreements,” said Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri.

She was critical towards EU saying that the rewards for Kosovo are symbolic. According to her now there is clarity for the European path, but that is not enough.
“We don’t think that the technical dialogue should continue, because we believe that the key to the technical dialogue is the implementation of the agreements achieved until now”, said Tahiri. “There are diplomats and analysts who are mentioning the idea of a political dialogue for the north. Our stance is that if we want to tackle these things, the entire Balkans should be included in such a dialogue. Whoever requests a political dialogue for the north, requests touching of the borders of the Balkans”, warned Tahiri.

Drews: No compromise when freedom of movement is endangered (Koha Ditore)
KFOR Commander General Erhard Drews said on Thursday in Gjakova that there will be no compromise when the freedom of movement of the citizens is concerned. This daily reports that Drews justified the recent actions of KFOR soldiers in the north of Kosovo. “We have been patient enough and we have discussed enough with the officials of the northern part, whom we always called on to remove those barricades themselves, however at some point, the time for KFOR to act comes and this is what happened,” said Drews.

Germany shocked by attack on its soldiers in the north (Koha Ditore)
The German Government is still analyzing footage and material collected from the clash of Serbs with German KFOR troops in Rudar of Mitrovica, writes the paper. German Ambassador to Kosovo Ernst Reichel said that the evidence collected at the site suggests that the group of Serbs intended to kill the soldiers. “When you shoot at the head, the bullet may hit the helmet which in this case saved the life of the soldier but may have also hit the ear which would have been fatal. It is very clear that the goal was to kill the soldiers,” said Reichel.

The German official rejected statements by illegal Serb representatives in the north that “innocent citizens were attacked by KFOR”. “It is completely untrue the claim that German soldiers shot with real ammunition. There is plenty of evidence that suggest the opposite,” Reichel noted.

EULEX Police arrest one of suspects for killing of Zymberi (dailies)
All dailies report that EULEX Police has arrested one of the six persons suspected of killing Enver Zymberi, member of the Kosovo Police special units, during last year’s attempt to take control of border gates 1 and 31. “Investigators of EULEX Task Force in Mitrovica have arrested one of the suspects in relation to the killing of police officer Enver Zymberi. The arrest was made this morning in Mitrovica,” read an EULEX press release.

Indeksonline.com reported that the arrested person is Slobodan Vucinic, who was caught in the same car he used when Zymberi was killed. “This person is one of the six people for whom international arrest warrants were issued in 2011,” added the press release.

Government to arrest Nikolic if he enters Kosovo without permission (Koha)
Koha Ditore reports that the Serb President, Tomislav Nikolic, could be arrested by Kosovo Police if he decides to enter the territory of Kosovo without prior permission from the Kosovo Government. The same will apply also in the case if he uses illegal channels to enter into Kosovo and afterwards encounters the Kosovo Police. This statement was made by the Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister, Hajredin Kuçi, on Thursday. “Whoever enters without permission in our country risks encountering our laws and arrest. We don’t want to come to that position with the President of Serbia, however, anyone who violates the law will have equal treatment”, said Kuçi.

Krasniqi against border changes (Zëri)
Zëri reports that Kosovo Assembly Speaker Jakup Krasniqi has reconfirmed his position against the division of Kosovo or the exchange of territories with Serbia. Krasniqi said an eventual division of Kosovo could have a chain effect throughout the Balkans and the old continent. “Any tendency to change Kosovo’s borders will not stop only with Kosovo but would impact other European countries,” Krasniqi added.

Kryeziu: No bargaining for the north (Epoka e Re)
In a front-page interview for the paper, Eqrem Kryeziu, member of the LDK presidency, called on representatives of Kosovo institutions to avoid bargaining on the northern part of Kosovo. Kryeziu said the Ahtisaari Package is the best offer for Serbs living in the north.

“There are many nuances for the issue of northern Kosovo, but President Ahtisaari’s document is the most liberal offer in European democracies. As far as arguing this document is concerned, I wouldn’t mind talking to anyone but I would make no deals,” Kryeziu said.

Asked to comment on recent rumors about a technical government, Kryeziu said Kosovo doesn’t need a technical government. “Nowhere in the world are technical governments a good reference,” he added.

Kosovo risks suffering the fate of Palestine (Koha Ditore)
Koha Ditore reports that the former Foreign Affairs Minister, Skënder Hyseni, is afraid that Kosovo could suffer the same fate as that of Palestine and the Western Sahara if it applies wrong policies in relations with international mechanisms. Hyseni’s reaction was triggered by announcements of Principal Deputy Prime Minister Behgjet Pacolli that Kosovo will be ready to apply for the membership in the United Nations by September.

Such statements, according to Hyseni, leave space for suspicion that the Government either doesn’t know the procedures for gaining membership in the UN or it wants to send the country to the club of the states without identity. In the formal aspect, applying for membership in the UN is a simple procedure but the whole problem is with permanent members of United Nations Security Council and whether they would use the right of the veto towards a state’s application. Hyseni said that the application for the membership in the UN, without securing support from the Security Council can lead Kosovo in the position of Palestine.

He said that Danger announcements for applying for monitoring status in the UN are even more damaging. “This way, Kosovo directly goes to the direction of the club of countries with no identity,” Hyseni said.

Reconstruction of houses to begin in the north (Zëri)
The paper reports that reconstruction of Albanian houses in the northern part of Mitrovica is set to begin on 8 June with the money from the fund-raising event few days ago. Head of Mitrovica municipality Avni Kastrati thanked all those who contributed in the event and raised over 1.5 million euro. Kastrati said the fund will be managed professionally and that 250 houses are expected to be reconstructed with the money.

Vujanovic conditions exchange of ambassadors (dailies)
President of Montenegro, Filip Vujanovic, has stated that he would not sign the decision on nomination of the ambassador to Kosovo and he would not accept accreditation letters of Kosovo Ambassador in Podgorica if Kosovo does not recognize Montenegrins as a national minority. Vujanovic told the journalists that he has received strong assurances by Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga that the issue of Montenegrins will be resolved soon. He added that there will be no exchange of ambassadors prior to this. A few days ago the Montenegrin Government has taken the decision to open an embassy in Kosovo.

Kosovo Press Headlines

Koha Ditore

Front page
• Government undetermined to establish northern Mitrovica
• Government indicates it will arrest Nikolic if he enters without permission
• Tahiri announces end of technical dialogue
• Mujota admits there is criminality in his ministry

Other headlines
• Kosovo risks sharing Palestine’s fate (2)
• Thaçi calls on Japanese businesses to invest in Kosovo (4)
• Drews: No compromise when freedom of movement is at stake (5)
• Germany shocked by attack against its troops in the north (5)
• One of suspects behind killing of Zymberi is arrested (5)
• Gërxhaliu: Government is sabotaging OEK (8)
• Krasniqi accuses parties of being involved in failure of privatization (9)

Zëri

Front page
• Construction mafia is being legalized
• Drews: No more patience in the north!
• Suspect behind killing of Enver Zymberi is arrested
• Government has lost its way toward the UN
• Thaçi gets support from Japanese diplomacy

Other headlines
• Krasniqi against border changes (2)
• Kukan: Dialogue to include political issues (4)
• Montenegro conditions Kosovo (4)

Kosova Sot

Front page
• Some internationals remain in Kosovo institutions
• Editorial: Privatization should be investigated
• Soon a decision on new elections
• Idajet Beqiri must be released

Other headlines
• Japan continues to support Kosovo (4)
• Montenegro conditions Kosovo (4)
• Kukan proposes political dialogue between Pristina and Belgrade (4)
• Nikolic deceives northern Serbs (4)
• After eight phases, KSF will become an army (4)

Epoka e Re

Front page
• No bargaining on the north
• Grabovci: Coalition is functioning well
• Opposite ideas on the north
• No sufficient evidence on Haxha

Other headlines
• Thaçi receives support from Japan (2)
• Nikolic (does not) reveal Brussels agreement (2)
• Kukan: Dialogue should include all political issues (2)
• Montenegro conditions opening of the Embassy in Kosovo (3)
• There is no coalition on Kaçanik (4)
• One of the suspects for Enver Zymberi’s murder, arrested (7)

Express

Front page
• Nano’s friend
• From Government’s funds
• The first one arrested
• Support from Japan

Other headlines
• Vujanovic conditions on ambassador (4)
• Nikolic: Restrain from violence (5)
• Hyseni: They do not have knowledge about the UN (6)
• Discuss politically (6)
• Kalashnikov and Rakia (7)
• Switzerland does not give them pensions (11)

Bota Sot

Front page
• EULEX police arrested one Serb for the murder of Enver Zymberi
• We will continue eternal friendship with USA

Other headlines
• Montenegro conditions Kosovo (4)
• Kukan: In the dialogue Pristina – Belgrade also political issues (7)
• Japan promises help in the achieving more recognitions for Kosovo (7)
• Vetëvendosje: Convicted Zharku, makes electoral campaign in Kacanik (7)
• There will not be compromise for the freedom of movement in the north (10)
• There are no interethnic incidents in Kamenica (10)