Kosovo Stalls Again on Montenegro Border Vote

Kosovo MPs have again postoned a decision on whether or not to ratify a vexed border demarcation agreement with Montenegro, set for Thursday.

The vote failed as a result of the decision of the government to turn the vote into a package, by including two additional documents.

One was a report by a state commission, which concluded that the deal was damaging to Kosovo. The other was the joint statement of the presidents of the two countries.

"We are on a good path to achieving consensus, and agreed for the parliamentary session to resue tomorrow [Friday]," the speaker of parliament, Kadri Veseli, said.

Opposition political parties had refused to take part in a vote, calling the inclusion of the additional documents "contradictory".

Afrim Hoti, a professor of International Law in Pristina, told BIRN that the additional documents should only be used for "internal consumption" purposes.

"The main clause of the law is the adoption of this agreement [signed in 2015], so involving any other acts would imply a unilateral action of the Kosovo parliament," Hoti said.

He noted that the same agreement ratified by the Montenegrin parliament did not include any additional documents.

"These documents are for internal consumption. What has international legal effect is the agreement of 2015," he stated.

The opposition Vetevendosje party, which has opposed the agreement since it was signed in 2015, claiming that Kosovo stands to lose territory, has meanwhile filed a criminal charge of treason against President Hashim Thaci over the demarcation issue.

Vetevendosje MP Albulena Haxhiu on Thursday said the charge relates to a joint statement supporting the agreement signed by Thaci and the Montenegrin President, Filip...