Presevo Valley: We want the appellate court and police commander, Albanian



Presevo Valley Albanians are preparing a number of requirements, as are rumors that they will meet with Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic.

Jonuz Musliu, president of the Bujanovac Municipal Assembly said that the situation in the Presevo Valley is tense.

He said that among the major demands that they as a community is opening an appeals court in Bujanovac and Presevo or a commander with the Albanian police.

The situation in the Presevo Valley of flipped sharply after the Serbian government's decision to remove a monolith set up in honor of the victims of the Liberation Army of Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja. /

Damaged road in Vlore-Himare
15/07/2013

The Radhima residents and owners of hotels alongside the coastline protested this monday against the bad conditions for the Vlore-Himara road.

Six months ago the road was divided in two, so that workers could install the pipelines needed for dividing the sewerage and drinking water.

This affects the movement in this axes and pollution, besides creating long queues in a busy traffic. More than 20.000 vehicles cross this axes in more than 24 hours.

The road has a direct influence on tourism. It’s construction a few years ago has increased the number of tourists, while the recent problems have lowered the visits.

50 Years Old was Killed in Tirana

Another tragedy happened yesterday evening in Tirana, where one person was shot at the entrance of a building near Partizani Gymnasium.

Police sources said the victim is called Edmond Dervishs, about 50 years old, but are still unclear the causes of the murder.

The same sources said that the victim was shot nine times with a pistol by certain persons traveling in a vehicle brand "Mercedes" and quickly left the place of execution.


//Albania On Air

"Serbs to use Serbian documents in Kosovo elections"

Source: B92, Tanjug

BELGRADE -- Prime Minister Ivica Dačić has stated that Serbs will be able to vote and to run for office in the elections in Kosovo with Serbian documents.

(Beta, file)

Dačić told B92 on Sunday that in the continuation of the Belgrade-Priština dialogue scheduled for July 24 in Brussels the two sides will discuss whether the parties which are participating in the elections will have to register in Priština.
“The parties do not intend to participate individually, and this will be discussed among them. If a uniform Serb list is made, there will be no need for each party to stand the elections on its own,” the prime minister said.

Asked whether this means that the Socialist Party of Serbia (SPS) that he is leading will not participate in the elections in Kosovo and Metohija, Dačić said that he thinks that "a uniform Serb list should be made."

“We are yet to discuss this, not all questions have been solved, but it is in our interest that Serbs make their community legitimate and form it after the elections as that will be the first internationally recognized way of fulfillment of the Serb interests,” Dačić said.

"Registration in Kosovo is required to run in elections"

Edita Tahiri has said that parties registered in Serbia will not be able to run in the municipal elections in Kosovo unless they register with Kosovo's central election commission.

Tahiri, who is a deputy prime minister in the government in Priština and heads its team in the talks with Belgrade, told the Albanian-language daily Koha Ditore that parties had to be registered with Kosovo's central election commission in order to run in the elections set for November 3.

"They need to be registered as political parties or citizen initiatives according to Kosovo's election law," she noted, adding that they would "later complete the remaining requirements related to the elections, without which they could not run."

The Belgrade delegation was informed about this during the talks in Brussels, she said.

The final deadline for party and citizen initiative registration in order to take part in the municipal elections is in September.

CEC postpones appeals
12/07/2013

The Central Election Commission, now remained with only four members, postponed the meeting for the first complaint with three other days.

The Socialist Movement for Integration is filing a complaint for the Kukes District result, which was to be reviewed this Friday. The political force led by Ilir Meta demands a recount and evaluation of ballots for 15 boxes in Tropoja, Kukes, and where the result that favors the Democratic Party has a very close difference.

The Socialist Movement for Integration claims that 150 votes have been removed from the left coalition. If true, that could give the fourth Kukes mandate to the left coalition.

There is another complaint made for the Shkoder District. Different from Kukes, it is the Republican Party which says that their mandates were taken by the Democratic Party.

Another mandate is being discussed in Lezhe. The Socialist Party opposes the CEC decision for this district that went from the left to the right coalition.

The complaint of the Socialist Party, which has not been submitted to the Central Election Commission yet, might include other voting centers of Lezhe, where they don’t exclude demanding the invalidity of the elections.

There could be 40 complaints in total at the Central Election Commission, and one of them is that of the independent candidate, Dritan Prifti, who wants a ballot recount in Fier. There are complaints from the LZHK in some areas, while the Party of Retired People and the Christian-Democratic Popular Alliance have had no preferences for the districts. They have asked the elections to be considered invalid throughout the country.

All complaints, because the Central Election Commission doesn’t have the necessary numbers for the votes, will go to the Electoral College.

Thaci: Man of war and peace
13/07/2013

“WHEN Hashim Thaci directed a bloody guerrilla war from the mountains of this poor and rugged country, he was so adept at evading capture that fellow fighters called him the Snake. Hashim Thaci, the 45-year-old Prime Minister of Kosovo aspires to statemanship”

This is how the prestigious American newspaper New York Times makes a description of the 45-year-old Prime Minister of Kosovo in an article dedicated to him.

“In June he agreed to put in place a landmark power-sharing agreement with Serbia that is being hailed in Europe and the United States as a triumph of peace and reconciliation in the region after the Balkan wars of the 1990s, in which about 120,000 people died, more than 10,000 of them in Kosovo.”

“Mr. Thaci is being hailed in Washington and Brussels as the Gerry Adams of the Balkans, his country on the road toward Europe, his name even invoked, however improbably, as a possible Nobel Peace Prize candidate”, the article continues.

The United States prestigious newspaper refers to the most important moments of Thaci’s life, such as the childhood, the resistance against the Serbs and his decision to join the KLA.

“An athletic and lanky man with a vise-grip handshake, Mr. Thaci, the seventh of nine children, comes from a family of farmers in the Drenica region of Kosovo, the heartland of Albanian resistance to the Serbs.”

“He later went underground to join the Kosovo Liberation Army. While some, like Kosovo’s first president, Ibrahim Rugova, favored Gandhian passive resistance, Mr. Thaci was a forceful advocate of armed struggle. “The Serbian regime would not be pacified by smiles and hugs,” he said, according to NYT.

“At the NATO-sponsored peace talks in Rambouillet, France, early in 1999, Mr. Thaci made a strong impression on Madeleine K. Albright, the United States secretary of state. He proved to be a pragmatist, signing a compromise deal that fell short of guaranteeing Kosovo’s independence. The talks eventually collapsed when Belgrade refused to withdraw all of its military forces, prompting NATO’s bombing campaign”, the article continues

“Yet the past keeps coming back to haunt him. In 2010, a Council of Europe report accused Mr. Thaci of having led a “mafialike” group that smuggled weapons, heroin and human organs during the war and its aftermath. Mr. Thaci has rejected those accusations as well, and the Kosovo government at the time called them “despicable.” In August 2011, the European Union set up a special task force to investigate the veracity of organ-trafficking claims, including whether or not Mr. Thaci was involved. It has not yet delivered its findings”, says the prestigious NYT.

According to the article, “when Thaci was asked about the accusations, including that Kosovar Albanians kidnapped Serbs during the war and harvested their kidneys at a secret “yellow house” in Albania, Mr. Thaci transformed his grin into a grimace.

“Something like that never happened; we have nothing to hide,” he said. “The earlier the issue is clear, the better it is for Kosovo. It is really a very heavy burden for us, and we believe in truth and justice,” he said.

The article says that Mr.Thaci said his wartime experience had taught him to keep his patience during six months of 12-hour-a-day talks this year when he faced his former foe, Prime Minister Ivica Dacic of Serbia. Mr. Dacic was the wartime spokesman of the former Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic, whose forces had tried, without success, to hunt down and kill Mr. Thaci.

“It wasn’t easy to sit opposite one another at the table, two former sworn enemies,” Mr. Thaci said for NYT, recalling his first awkward handshake with Mr. Dacic. But he said pragmatism had ultimately prevailed. Being celebrated at home as a former soldier also helped.

“Although he has been widely credited with shepherding Kosovo toward independence — Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. has called him the “George Washington of Kosovo” — his government has also faced repeated accusations of rampant corruption. In May, he suffered another blow when a European Union court here ordered the arrest of seven former K.L.A. commanders accused of war crimes, including two former close aides”, says the article of NYT.

Mr. Thaci insists that he and his fellow soldiers were freedom fighters. He quoted the lyrics of a favorite Sting song he said he had listened to as a young guerrilla leader.

“Duhet më shumë se uniforma për të krijuar një burrë, është më shumë se liçensa për armën. Perballuni me armiqtë, shmangini kur mundeni. Një zotëri do të ecë, nuk do t’ia mbathë kurrë”.

“Takes more than combat gear to make a man. Takes more than a license for a gun. Confront your enemies, avoid them when you can. A gentleman will walk but never run”, the NYT article concludes.

From ERT Now EDT - Greek Public Television Back on Air


By Hellas Frappe on 11.7.13

The Greek Public Television channel (EDT) went back on air, late on July 10, one month after the state broadcaster was shut down. A backdrop reading Greek Public Television and featuring a globe and coloured waves was being broadcast on the main digital frequencies formerly occupied by ERT. Later, the broadcaster screened an old Greek movie.

Deputy Minister for Public Radio and Television Pantelis Kapsis said this was a transitional stage, until new staff is hired for a new public television service to start running in the autumn. He added that the signal is being broadcast from a studio, and that initially the programme will include feature films and documentaries, while the latest news headlines will be viewed in a ticker at the bottom of the television screen.

He also said job openings for staff would be posted soon in order for the regular programme to start. "There will be an open call to journalists," Kapsis said. In announcement on July 9, former ERT employees -who have taken over the station's headquarters- condemned every "attempt to illegally transmit anything outside ERT's main or regional facilities."
    "The government will not stay hostage to the unionists who at this point remain at the Aghia Paraskevi premises," Kapsis told private television station Mega, referring to the ERT headquarters.
The minister expressed his disappointment at the former employees' occupation of the facilities, as he said almost all their demands have been met.
     "We have essentially resolved all issues raised, all of them. I know there is disagreement over two-month contracts, but that cannot be resolved. But all the rest was resolved," Kapsis said, naming the compensation for layoffs, incentives for those wishing to go on early retirement, bonuses for laid-off staff and the hiring of 2,000 as staff from the former ERT to the transitional agency."
Responding to charges about the government's emitting a signal illegally, he said, "Is the public pirating itself? Whom does public television belong to? Is it a responsibility of the government and the state, or not? Employees have every right to react and I fully respect their union struggles, but that's one thing; it's another to occupy ERT's assets and forbid the regular transmission from the public agency."

The three channels of former ERT (ET1, NET and ET3) started broadcasting late on Wednesday night with a Greek comedy at 9:00 a.m., a film bought in the open market. The program continued with documentaries, breaking overnight and restarting Thursday morning with a children's show.

The program of the transitional channel called Greek Public Television (DT) began transmitting its logo on the shutdown ERT public broadcaster frequencies on Wednesday morning.

Serbs from northern Kosovo won't vote in elections

Source: Beta

ZVEČAN -- Zvečan Mayor Dragiša Milović says that Serbs in the north of of Kosovo will not take part in the local elections organized by Priština on November 3.

Milović spoke at the celebration of the municipal day to state that Serbs want to stay in their country and that this was the reason they recently constituted the Assembly of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.
"We did not do this out of spite and unconstitutionally, but to remain in the framework of the Constitution and the state Serbia," the mayor said.

He added that Belgrade and the international community can and must offer better and more just solutions for all who live in Kosovo and Metohija.

Milović also said that the Albanians are implementing the Brussels agreement selectively and are using it as "a buffet" - applying only what suits them.

Milović also thanked the Government Office for Kosovo and Metohija for the reconstruction of facilities in the municipality.

The mayor announced that work will soon start to build a regional water supply for northern Kosovska Mitrovica, Zvečan and Zubin Potok, thereby resolving "one of the burning problems in the region."

Samaras To Meet Obama in Washington on Aug. 8


By Hellas Frappe

United States President Barack Obama is going to meet with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras in Washington DC on August 8, according to the PM's office Thursday. In an announcement, Samaras' office said the agenda of the meeting is going to include bilateral, regional and international issues, including U.S.-Greek defense cooperation, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, regional cooperation, mutual counterterrorism efforts, prospects for a settlement in Cyprus, developments in North Africa, and Syria..

The visit will highlight the strength of the U.S.-Greek relationship and underscore the United States’ ongoing support for Greece’s efforts to reform its economy and promote a return to prosperity.

HIMARA REGION, ON THE OBSERVER OF BIG BROTHER



The owner of the destroyed building: Edi Rama I's my cousin, but refused intervention

The Albanian Press
http://www.gazetatema.net/web/2013/07/12/pronari-i-godine-se-prishur-jam-kusheri-i-edi-rames-por-nuk-pranoi-nderhyrje/

 Several dailies report today that one of the demolished buildings in the account belongs to a cousin of Edi Rama, the future prime minister of Albania.

According to Albanian Press, the owner of the two-story building without permission, claiming to be a cousin of Rama, but says he has not received building interventions.

Narta në protestë: Përdhunohen të moshuarat, të kryhet ADN e burrave të ...

Residents of Narte: There is no peace and security, criminals violate our parents, every night

Narta  police in Vlora district scary situation protest the lack of order and security in their village.

In a statement to "A1 Report" residents of the village say that the houses were looted and stolen, and there 'rape cases.

They say that the village is inhabited mainly by women and children, as most of the men living in emigration, which makes the village an easier target for crime.

The village headman, Nasho Zoic who holds this office for nine years, said the horrific event occurred, which have experienced as themselves, and their relatives.

Furthermore, a woman tells the fact that her elderly mother was raped in the apartment. They call the police to intervene to find the perpetrators.

Reeve and threaten people that if not resolved their security problem, will block the streets in protests. They say the situation seriously authorities are often reported.

"In our village every day these things. I came to steal more and more men killed. The worst is that we only steal rape us of our mothers sisters. Our village not bear on this. All rise, all men Narte, DNA taken and whether that person from Narta depend here in the middle of the village. Today happened to my 82 year old mother will happen to me tomorrow, "said one resident.

Narta is located in north of Vlora town, inhabited by old Greek Community.

http://www.gazetatema.net/web/2013/07/11/banoret-e-nartes-te-alarmuar-mungon-rendi-dhe-siguria-vjedhje-dhe-perdhunime-masive/

Τοποθέτηση του Χρήστου Παππά για το Βορειοηπειρωτικό στην Επιτροπή Αποδή...

The Greek Parliament,  the MP of Golden Dawn, Christos Pappas accuses the Greek government for the missing of the support for the northern epiriotes brother in Albania.

Albania-Kosovo military agreement raises concerns in Serbia

11/07/2013
As Tirana and Pristina sign a status of forces agreement, Belgrade expresses concern for the safety of Kosovo Serbs.
By Linda Karadaku and Biljana Pekusic for Southeast European Times in Pristina and Belgrade -- 11/07/13


photo
Albania and Kosovo have downplayed Serbian concerns about the status of forces agreement between Tirana and Pristina. [AFP]
The signing of a status of forces agreement between Kosovo and Albania promises to bolster co-operation between the two countries, but has raised security concerns in neighbouring Serbia.

The Kosovo-Albania agreement, signed July 1st, regulates relations between the countries based on NATO standards, the entry and exit procedures of military equipment and personnel into each state, and the temporary deployment and status of civilian personnel.

While neither Kosovo nor Albania have sent equipment or personnel to one another aside from Albanian officers who served in the KFOR mission, the agreement creates a legal framework that would allow such movement.

Both Pristina and Tirana say the agreement does not threaten any other nation, but Serbia Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic called it a "very serious problem," and said Belgrade would consult with the EU and other officials.

With Serb populations in northern Kosovo concerned that the implementation of the Brussels agreement that was signed in April will reduce their security, Vucic added that NATO has guaranteed that the Kosovo Security Force will not send personnel to that area.

Milovan Drecun, chairman of the Serbian parliament Committee on Kosovo, gave a sharper assessment.

"This agreement between Kosovo and Albania indicates large Albanian claims and may threaten the safety of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohia," Drecun told SETimes.

Military analyst and author Miroslav Lazanski said the agreement is a provocation addressed at Serbia.

"The agreement entitles the Albanian armed forces to be stationed in Kosovo, which is not at all in the spirit of easing tensions in this part of the region," Lazanski told SETimes.

But the Kosovo Security Force and the Albanian Ministry of Defense said no nation should feel threatened by the agreement.

"The agreement ... does not represent any threat at all for Serbia or any other neighbour of Kosovo. This agreement is a result of the good and continuous co-operation between the two ministries. We will for sure sign other agreements in turn with the neighbouring and friendly countries, which will open new possibilities for intensive and overall co-operation between the states of the region, and furthermore, contribute to the strengthening of peace and overall security," Ibrahim Shala, spokesperson for the Kosovo Security Force, told SETimes.

Lorisa Ylli, a spokesperson for the Albanian Ministry of Defense, told SETimes that NATO member countries and those that aspire to join the Alliance, including Kosovo and Serbia, "are clear about the obligations and the mutual respect deriving from the Washington Treaty," NATO's founding document.


29/09/2011
"This agreement does not represent a threat for any other country and even less for Serbia, which is a NATO partner country, with the status of Partnership for Peace member. This agreement between the two sovereign states increases the co-operation between our two countries, countries that have been a model regarding the spirit of stabilisation and security they transmit in the region," Ylli said.

Ramadan Qehaja, head of the Kosovo Centre for Security Studies, agrees.

"It is the right of any sovereign state to sign bilateral agreements," Qehaja told SETimes.

Does the Albania-Kosovo agreement pose a threat to Serbia or the Serbs in northern Kosovo? Share your thoughts in the comments section.

SP: Alarming financial situation

SP: Alarming financial situation Ilir Beqja, member of the working group that will plan the program of the new government, released a press statement for the media, with a gray background reading “office of newly elected Prime Minister”.

By describing the financial situation as very difficult, Beqja declared that for the first five months of the year, Customs and Tax Offices have collected 150 million USD less than the program.

“Experts predict that this could reach 400 million USD by the end of the year. We cannot leave without mentioning another important figure. Only in the first six months of the year the outgoing government has exhausted 90% of the budget deficit”, Beqja declared.

On behalf of the new majority, Mr.Beqja listed five requests to the incumbent Ministry of Finances.

“We ask the Minister of Finances, since he is the Minister with the moral and legal responsibility to publish the fiscal indicators according to the consolidated budget for the first six months of the year, to exert his legal duty for the administration and collection of the tax and customs obligations. They must interrupt any negotiation for agreements and projects with funds that increase Albania’s foreign debt. They must guarantee that from 12 to 30 July, during which there will be an upgrade of the automatic treasury system, they must secure the payment of social assistance, the payment of disabled people, retirement pensions and public administration wages”, Beqja declared.

"Albanians chose unification, not division"

Albanians chose unification, not division The Albanian Prime Minister, Sali Berisha, boycotted the reception made by the US Embassy to Tirana for the 237th anniversary of the US independence.

This ceremony was also boycotted by the Parliament Speaker, Jozefina Topalli. Present in the ceremony was the Albanian President, Bujar Nishani; the next Prime Minister, Edi Rama, and representatives from the entire political spectrum, civil society and the media.

The US Ambassador, Alexander Arvizu, spoke about the June 23rd elections in Albania, saying that they were significant for the modern political history of our country, with the Albanians making it clear that the future of Albania is the European Integration.

"Only two weeks ago, dozens of thousands of Albanians voted for their next leader. This was a defining choice, the most significant of the modern political history of Albania. The clear message of the Albanian people was simple: they are ready to take responsibility for the future leading of their country, and they will decide. Their conviction is clear. The future of Albania is as an integral part of Europe, and this will take place very soon through comprehension, not division. Any politician or party that ignores this fact, puts himself into danger", Arvizu declared.

For all the skeptical ones, Ambassador Arvizu guaranteed that he will stay in Albania until the new Parliament will start working, while the Foreign Ministry declared a few days before the elections that his mandate was about to expire.

"It will be a honor for me to follow personally the gathering of the first Parliament in September", Arvizu declared.

The Ambassador quoted a phrase from President Obama:

"President Obama has once said that changes don't come if we wait for another person or another period to come. We, who have been waiting, are the change that we are looking for", Arvizu declared.

Albanian press writes that the building with balcony of Llogora, with himariot proprietor,  will demolish tomorrow



A few days ago Tema newspaper reported that as one of the most beautiful spots in the country Llogara neck, had launched a construction beyond the technical criteria and without special permission.

But we learn that this building will be demolished on Thursday.

This point, which is also known as a balcony Llogara attraction for many tourists, because immediately appear so startling sea.

http://www.gazetatema.net/web/2013/07/10/foto-lajm-ndertesa-ne-ballkonin-e-llogarase-do-shembet-te-enjten/

Note; But the bilding, has the only owner ingenious proprietor from Himara, known as the Nesturi family. Interesting is the fact that there is not any list for abusive building in Llogara, Perivolo, Jali, or other places of Himara Region, who have occupied the public spaces, under the concessions of the Albanian government of Sali Berisha.

Serbia for Dayton, RS against recognition of Kosovo

SOURCE: TANJUG
BANJA LUKA -- Serbia remains firmly committed to the position that the Dayton Peace Agreement is a basis for the state architecture of Bosnia-Herzegovina.


(Tanjug)
Bosnia's Serb entity, the Serb Republic (RS), meanwhile, "is resolved to continue preventing Sarajevo from recognizing the unilaterally declared independence of Kosovo," Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dačić and RS President Milorad Dodik underscored on Wednesday.

Dačić and Dodik talked in Banja Luka on Wednesday before a joint sitting of the Serbian and RS governments.

Dačić told a news conference following the meeting that the Dayton Agreement was reached thanks to a great diplomatic initiative of Serbia's leadership at that time and brought about peace in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

“Our stand is unchangeable. We will never impose pressure on RS and require from it to change its position on the equality of peoples and entities in Bosnia-Herzegovina,” said Dačić, who informed Dodik about details concerning the negotiating process between Belgrade and Priština.

For Serbia, the dialogue remains status-neutral, and no one from the EU has brought that into question, the Serbian prime minister said.

During the dialogue in Brussels, Bosnia has never been mentioned as a topic that should be addressed, Dačić said.

Dodik said that RS offers unwavering support to Serbia's state policy when it comes to the issue of Kosovo, which means, among other things, that Banja Luka will never recognize Kosovo's independence.

“As regards Kosovo's independence, RS sticks to the position of non-recognition, and we will not grant our consent for that in Bosnia. The integrity and sovereignty of Serbia has been challenged by that unilateral declaration,” Dodik said, adding that RS could not recognize the self-declared independence of Kosovo, “taking into account the internal constitution of Bosnia”.

Dodik said that Dačić informed him about the details in relation to Serbia's EU integration process, which RS fully supports.

“We expect that the negotiating process will begin, and that Serbia will successfully close all chapters and become an EU member state,” Dodik said.

The RS president noted that Banja Luka has nothing against Serbia holding joint sittings with the Federation of Bosnia or the Council of Ministers, as that is a part of the policy aimed at normalizing relations in the region.

Dačić and Dodik said that joint sittings of the two governments are a good frame for improving relations between Serbia and RS even further, adding that they should be held twice a year.

DSS Asks If Serbian Government And NATO Support Albania-Kosovo Agreement

http://www.tanjug.rs

    

BELGRADE – The opposition Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) asked on Tuesday the government and the Serbian Defence Ministry what they will do after the signing of an agreement on military cooperation between Albania and interim institutions in Kosovo-Metohija, and whether on the occasion the government has requested an explanation from the NATO Alliance, which includes Albania among its members.



Stressing that the agreement jeopardizes Serbia’s territorial integrity given that it includes provisions which are dangerous for the security of citizens and the country, and also that Kosovo does not have its armed forces, DSS MP Jovan Palalic said that the behavior of the NATO Alliance is particularly worrying, and asked whether such an agreement could be signed without its knowledge.

In the part of the session when MPs can ask for information from the competent persons, he said that the agreement makes it possible for the Albanian Armed Forces to be present in Kosovo-Metohija, and asked whether this means that that they will be able to stay in north Kosovo and finish the job that the Kosovo forces cannot.

“What kind of message is NATO sending to Serbia when it allows this,” Palalic asked, and called on the government to pose a question to the military alliance whether it supports such an agreement and whether it respects Serbia’s military neutrality.

Palalic asked the government whether Serbia’s scope of participation in the Partnership for Peace will be questioned due to such behavior of the military alliance.

PM: Some progress, but more talks needed

SOURCE: TANJUG
BRUSSELS -- Ivica Dačić said after the 13th round of dialogue with Hashim Thaci in Brussels on Monday that some progress was made, but many open issues remain.

 

(Tanjug)
Ivica Dačić said after the 13th round of dialogue with Hashim Thaci in Brussels on Monday that some progress was made, but many open issues remain.

"We talked about many issues related to the implementation of the Brussels agreement (between Belgrade and Priština)," Dačić told reporters after five hours of talks with Thaci at the office of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

The prime minister explained that the talks focused on local elections in Kosovo, the amnesty bill, the judicial network, electricity, telecommunications and everything else the experts had failed to agree on.

"Thaci said the amnesty bill will be passed by the end of next week," said Dačić.

The prime minister warned that Priština is constantly trying to use the status-neutral dialogue to impose solutions which confirm Kosovo's statehood.

"We must prevent them from solving status issues through the demand for the use of Kosovo IDs and citizenship," Dačić said, adding this is very important for the participation of Serbs in the local elections this fall, whose organization was also discussed.

When it comes to telecommunications and electricity, Dačić said some difficult issues like Lake Gazivode will be discussed during the EU high representative's visit to Belgrade and Priština this week.

"Some progress was made, but we will discuss several open issues with Ashton in Belgrade tomorrow," Dačić said, adding he and Thaci will meet again in Brussels on July 24.

He explained that in addition to Lake Gazivode, there is dispute over the Valac substation and the international calling code for Kosovo.

Gendarmes attacked by Albanian timber thieves

SOURCE: BETA, TANJUG
KURŠUMLIJA -- The Serbian police (MUP) Gendarmes exchanged fire with armed ethnic Albanian timber thieves in the area of the village of Borovac.

 

A file photo showing MUP Gendarmes near the administrative line (Tanjug)
The village is located near the town of Kuršumlija, and near the administrative line between Kosovo and central Serbia.

"A group of Albanians attacked, with automatic weapons, a Gendarmerie patrol, on the territory of Serbia, in the region of the Kuršumlija village of Borovac. There were no consequences for the members of the Gendarmerie, while information of the Kosovo Police Service shows that six persons of Albanian nationality were injured," said Gendarmerie commander Bratislav Dikić.

In a statement for Tanjug, Dikić specified that the police officers came under fire from two directions at around 19:00 CET on Sunday, and that "multiple persons" carried out the attack. According to this, the Gendarmes "responded adequately" and were not harmed.

Dikić further said that a tractor loaded with timber was found at the scene, along with two chainsaws and items of personal clothing, and that EULEX and KFOR liaison officers were informed about the incident.

Last night, the commander also said that the Gendarmes were "undertaking measures and activities to ensure safety of the citizens in the area," and that they had been looking for the attackers who were wounded. If found, he said, they would receive medical treatment.

Meanwhile, the Kosovo police, KPS, confirmed that the incident took place but offered no other details, while the Albanian language daily Express, published in Priština, said that four persons were hospitalized.

Unofficial information and statements from the locals said that an armed group of Albanians crossed the administrative boundary and attempted to illegally cut trees. They then attacked the Gendarmerie patrol that was nearby.

Local official in Merdare Časlav Milošević told Beta the shooting lasted for half an hour, and added:

"There was shooting like there was a war. From multiple kinds of weapons. Beside individual shots, there were also bursts of fire. The local villagers are very upset and frightened."

Reports also said that this was "the third armed incident in the village in the past ten days."

Last night, journalists were not allowed access to Borovac for safety reasons.