Kosovo Parliament Braces for First Session of 2016

Kosovo's parliament on Friday is due to hold its first session in 2016 after meeting for the last time two months ago, on December 17.

The opening session of the year is due to discuss and approve 22 items, including ratifying a number of loans, such as a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, EBRD, intended for the railways, and a loan from the German government.

The delayed meeting follows the extension of the MPs' New Year holiday until February, after opposition MPs threatened to disrupt any assembly sessions.

Opposition MPs, who previously used tear gas to interrupt the sessions, have not changed their approach, however.

Aida Derguti, from the Vetevendosje [Self-Determination] party, said previous assembly sessions had been doomed to be disrupted, and nothing had changed.

"The sessions were abnormal and let us not pretend that we are back to normality," she said.

The assembly is also due to take a number of urgent decisions on important institutional appointments.

The Prosecutorial Council remains incomplete as parliament has yet to appoint three new members, while the Procurement Review Body - an institution that monitors tender procedures - is awaiting a new chairman.

In coming weeks, the assembly is also due to approve the controversial border demarcation agreement with Montenegro, and an agreement with The Netherlands on hosting the new Special Court to try former Kosovo Liberation Army fighters, which is to be based in The Hague.

The chairman of parliament, Kadri Veseli, said he expected better scenes than those the country saw last year.

"I expect understanding, not scenes like the ones before. We have a tough opposition but at they should not be destructive," Veseli...