Run-off elections in Ferizaj between PDK and LDK candidates

• Run-off elections in Ferizaj between PDK and LDK candidates (dailies)
• OSCE endangers Kosovo (Zëri)
• EC: Criminalization of slander is not a European standard (Koha)
• Brussels requests establishment of rule of law through dialogue (Koha Ditore)
• Jahjaga in Thaçi’s service (Zëri)
• Dacic: Albanian groups plan attacks for May 6th (dailies)
• Kosovo Police confiscate Serbian elections material (Express)

Kosovo Media Highlights

Run-off elections in Ferizaj between PDK and LDK candidates (dailies)
According to preliminary results of the Central Elections Commission, the PDK candidate for mayor of Ferizaj Agim Aliu will face LDK’s Azem Salihaj in run-off elections. Neither candidate won the majority of votes needed to secure victory in yesterday’s extraordinary elections in the municipality. The voter turnout, according to CEC, was 29 percent. Aliu won 40.74 percent, Salihaj 24.09, Vetëvendosje’s Faton Topalli won 15.96 percent and AAK’s Naim Ferati got 10.86. According to Express, the run-off elections will take place by the end of the month.

OSCE endangers Kosovo (Zëri)
Zëri reports on the front page that Serbian local elections in Kosovo on May 6th could very easily ruin the security balance in Kosovo. The paper writes that Kosovo law enforcement institutions are ready to intervene if the OSCE “betrays” Pristina and allows the holding of Serbian local elections. The paper has already reported about a secret agreement between the OSCE mission in Kosovo and the Serbian Government, which was confirmed by the Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic. Pristina, according to the paper, is concerned that at the last moment Serbs will hold local elections alongside parliamentary and presidential elections. If this were to happen, the Kosovo Government is determined to even use force to prevent them. In such circumstances, violence is unavoidable, says the paper. It adds, the Kosovo Government cannot comprehend the outcome of such force because it could very easily escalate.

EC: Criminalization of slander is not a European standard (Koha)
Koha Ditore reports that the silence of the European Union over the controversial Penal Code adopted by the Kosovo Assembly recently in no ways means that the EU supports the code which limits the freedom of the media and endangers the work of reporters. Officials from the EU told the paper last week that they were surprised the code was adopted and they ruled out the possibility that someone from the EU assisted the Assembly, the Government or political parties to adopt the law. “We would have been very surprised if we were to find out that someone on behalf of the EU gave any kind of approval for the code,” a senior EU official told the paper.

Brussels requests establishment of rule of law through dialogue (Koha Ditore)
The paper reports that a dialogue will soon get underway between Kosovo and EU officials on the rule of law. According to officials from the Kosovo Government who spoke to Radio Free Europe, the process will include the justice and interior ministries. Among countries in the region, only Bosnia and Herzegovina is reported to have undergone such a dialogue with the EU. European integration experts in Pristina claim that such a process is unnecessary though they note there is a need to strengthen existing rule of law mechanisms.

Jahjaga in Thaçi’s service (Zëri)
Zëri reports that Kosovo President Atifete Jahjaga will send back the Penal Code only if this is requested by the Kosovo Democratic Party (PDK), namely the Government of Kosovo. The paper argues that ever since taking up the post of president, Jahjaga’s actions were all in line with the interests and policies of the government, and there is not a single case where Jahjaga went against the government. Meanwhile, some media report that Jahjaga has already decided to send back the two disputed articles of the Penal Code. It’s seen as an effort by Jahjaga to improve her relations with reporters.

Dacic: Albanian groups plan attacks for May 6th (dailies)
Several dailies quote Serbia’s Interior Minister Ivica Dacic as saying that he has information that “Albanian extremists and paramilitary formations are threatening to launch actions aimed at preventing Serbian elections on May 6th”. Dacic told reporters in Belgrade that Serbian and foreign intelligence services have information that “not only the government in Pristina, but also different extreme formations of Albanians that are not under the control of KFOR and EULEX, plan to launch certain actions”. According to Dacic, there are plans for physical attacks against Serbian polling stations, confiscation and burning of election material, and arrests and attacks against people that participate in election committees.

Kosovo Police confiscate Serbian elections material (Express)
Express reports that Kosovo Police confiscated a large number of election posters with Vojislav Seselj’s photo and pamphlets of the Serb Radical Party in Gracanica on Sunday. The material was found in the office of the head of the Radical Party for Pristina region, Dragutin Peric.

Kosovo Press Headlines

Koha Ditore

Front page
• PDK and LDK candidates heading to run-off elections in Ferizaj
• EC: Criminalizing slander is not a European standard
• Gërxhaliu: Poverty is a time-bomb in Kosovo
• Prisoners live in minimal conditions
• Kosovo policemen vacationed in Budva with money of criminals

Other headlines
• Brussels calls for law and order through dialogue (2)
• Dacic: Albanian groups plan attacks on May 6th (2)
• Representatives of workers choose silence on May 1st (7)

Zëri

Front page
• OSCE endangers Kosovo
• Jahjaga in Thaçi’s service
• Albright: Happy with what I did for Kosovo
• Run-off elections between Aliu and Salihaj
• Shefkiu: Lesson from Ferizaj
• The shares for tenders

Other headlines
• Kuçi calls for lower customs taxes (2)
• Anti-NATO rally in Skopje (4)
• Law and order through dialogue (4)

Kosova Sot

Front page
• Run-off elections between PDK’s Aliu and LDK’s Salihaj
• Increased forces in the north, danger from tense situation
• Berisha: U.S. helped Kosovo win its freedom and independence
• Editorial: A weak economy means no employment opportunities

Other headlines
• Dialogue on law and order to begin in late May (2)
• Dacic: Albanian groups plan attacks on May 6th (4)
• Zubin Potok and Zvecan to hold Serbian local elections? (4)

Epoka e Re

Front page
• Convincing victory of PDK
• No to coordinator on the north
• Limaj’s innocence to be confirmed on 2 May

Other headlines
• Dacic: Physical attacks planned in Kosovo polls (2)
• Zubin Potok and Zveçan in local elections? (2)
• No need for static police point in Karaçeva (6)
• Election material of Serb Radical Party confiscated (7)
• Agreement with IMF paves way for funds from World Bank (8)
• Workers not to protest (9)

Express

Front page
• Ferizaj proves itself
• Administration expands

Other headlines
• Run-offs by end of May (4)
• Campaign without insults (5)
• Technical problems (5)
• Serbian elections material confiscated (6)
• Dialogue on corruption (6)
• Dacic’s warnings (6)
• Testify against Mustafi (7)
• Russian Orthodox Church ready to send its representative to Kosovo (9)

Bota Sot

Front page
• Run-off elections between PDK and LDK candidates in Ferizaj
• SHIK members who killed Xhemajl Mustafa to face justice soon?
• LDK advisors in Mitrovica close their own mouths
• Dacic is afraid: Albanian groups plan attacks on May 6th
• Pristina and Brussels begin dialogue on combating organized crime

Other headlines
• Editorial: Political pressure over the north (2)
• Vetëvendosje claims there were irregularities in Ferizaj elections (6)
• Macedonians to protest against NATO on May 19th (7)