Pristina accuses Belgrade for organizing attack in the north

• Pristina accuses Belgrade for organizing attack in the north (Koha)
• Thaçi at UNSC session on November 18 (Tribuna)
• Thaçi: We will have our seat in the UN (Lajm)
• Hodzic: Elections in the north should be repeated (Tribuna)
• 639 complaints for local elections (Koha)
• Mustafa to Rama: Keep away from the campaign (dailies)
• Kosovo FM confirms joint meetings of governments of the region (Koha)
• Kosovo will complain to EU for confiscation of books in the Valley (Koha)

Pristina accuses Belgrade for organizing attack in the north (Koha)

The paper quotes Kosovo Government officials on the front page as saying that the attack at the polling station in northern Mitrovica during the November 3 elections was organized and executed by professionals and illegal structures of Serbia. Government officials said Serbia tried to obstruct elections in the northern part of Kosovo.

Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj told Koha Ditore that hooligans alone cannot be blamed for obstructing the voting process in northern Mitrovica. “The attack at the polling station in Sveti Sava elementary school in northern Mitrovica was planned and organized. Those people destroyed election material and those who threatened election commissioners, national and international monitors were professionals. There is no doubt that hooligans alone cannot be blamed for the incident and I think that Serbian state structures are behind the act,” Hoxhaj said. Meanwhile the Basic Prosecution of Mitrovica said one of the attackers is from Belgrade.

Thaçi at UNSC session on November 18 (Tribuna)

Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi and Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj will represent Kosovo at the United Nations Security Council session in New York on November 18. The November 3 local elections and the implementation of the Brussels agreement are expected to be at the focus of UN Secretary General’s report and the speeches of representatives from Pristina and Belgrade. Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic is also expected to attend the meeting.

Sources from UNMIK told the paper that as the SG report was published on November 1st, two days before local elections, another annex on elections is expected to be added to the report.

Thaçi: We will have our seat in the UN (Lajm)

In an interview for Al Jazeera, Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi said Kosovo would not remain hostage of the past and that it would not deal with enemies from the past. “Kosovo today is an independent country with a clear goal: integration in the European Union and NATO … Our vision for the near future is for Kosovo to have its seat at the United Nations as an independent country,” he added.

Thaçi said there would be problems during the implementation of the Brussels agreement with Serbia. “Theories about Kosovo’s partition or the creation of a Republika Srpska in the north are illusions, because the agreement is functional and it guarantees Kosovo’s territorial integrity,” Thaçi added.

Hodzic: Elections in the north should be repeated (Tribuna)

Adriana Hodzic, candidate for northern Mitrovica mayor, said on Sunday that the Central Election Committee should repeat elections in all polling stations in northern Mitrovica and not only in three of them. “Elections should be repeated in all polling stations, because some polling stations were closed before schedule and a large number of people were not able to exercise their democratic right to vote,” Hodzic told Voice of America.

639 complaints for local elections (Koha)

Chief of Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) Mulë Desku said that they have received a total of 639 complaints for 3 November elections. According to Desku, 274 pertain to election campaign, 173 to election day and the rest are about the counting process. “The nature of complaints lodged by political entities refer to article 33 of the Law on General Elections relating to election campaign such as removal, cover or damage to a poster, announcement or other material used during election campaign”, said Desku adding that the majority of complaints were presented by Democratic Party of Kosovo, followed by Vetëvendosje and Democratic League of Kosovo.

Mustafa to Rama: Keep away from the campaign (dailies)

Reports that a joint meeting of the governments in Tirana and Pristina will take place on 16 November in Prizren caused outrage with Democratic League of Kosovo. Its leader Isa Mustafa said Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi is continuing campaign in Prizren through the practice of bringing prime ministers of neighboring countries. “During pre-election activity, Mr. Thaçi hosted a huge rally in Prizren with prime ministers of Albania and Turkey. At the same time, Prime Minister of Serbia also came to his aid with his visit to Kosovo Serbs. If Mr. Thaçi feels the need to create advantages to his party through such interferences, I believe Mr. Rama should not”, said Mustafa in one of his postings on social network Facebook.

LDK also dismissed reports that it plans to invite former Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha as a counteraction to Thaçi’s invitation for PM Edi Rama. “There should be no interference in our elections. Either by Edi Rama or Sali Berisha or any one else for that matter,” said LDK’s senior official Arben Gashi.

Kosovo FM confirms joint meetings of governments of the region (Koha)

Kosovo’s Foreign Affairs Minister Enver Hoxhaj confirmed on Sunday that the Kosovo and Albanian governments will hold their first joint meeting this week in Prizren. Sources told the paper that there are plans to hold the first joint meeting between the governments of Kosovo and Albania in the complex of the Prizren League, but it has yet to be confirmed.

Hoxhaj said in the near future the Kosovo Government will organize similar meetings with the governments of Macedonia and Montenegro. “We will have joint meetings with other governments of the region. We have received a request from Macedonia. I have talked to the Macedonian Foreign Minister two days ago and I believe that in the near future we will have a joint meeting with the Government of Macedonia, with the Government of Montenegro and with other governments of the region,” Hoxhaj was quoted as saying.

Kosovo will complain to EU for confiscation of books in the Valley (Koha)

Everything the Government of Kosovo is doing about the barbarian and anti-European act of confiscation of books at an Albanian elementary school by Serbian authorities in Preseva Valley is to express concern in its meetings with international representatives.

Kosovo Foreign Minister Enver Hoxhaj said relations with Serbia cannot be normalized if Albanians in Presevo Valley continue to face oppression. “I will express our concern in all my meetings and I will make it clear that such acts prove that Serbia is a state with anti-European behaviors,” Hoxhaj said.

Zoran Stankovic, head of the Coordination body for Preseva, Medvegja and Bujanoc, told Serbian media on Sunday that textbooks in the village of Raice, municipality of Preseva, were legally confiscated because of the attempt for smuggling.