Kosovo Govt Frets as Montenegro Border Deal Vote Nears

The Kosovo Assembly is set to vote on the controversial agreement on border demarcation with Montenegro on Tuesday at 4pm, but a few hours before the deal is sent to MPs, it remains unclear if the ruling coalition can ensure it has 80 votes to ratify it.

The agreement, which has been one of the issues to put the country in political deadlocks over the last three years, needs to be backed by a two-thirds majority - 80 out of 120 MPs.

The ruling coalition with 39 votes is supported by the opposition Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, Alliance New Kosovo and Alternative with 29 votes, plus 10 votes from non-Serb community MPs in parliament.

After MP Donika Kadaj-Bujupi left the opposition Vetevendosje to join Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj's Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, the ruling coalition might be able to count on her vote to, but Kadaj-Bujupi has not given any statement about whether she still opposes the agreement as she did when she was with Vetevendosje.

Kadaj-Bujupi was one of the opposition MPs indicted for letting off tear gas in parliament to oppose a previous vote on the demarcation.

With 78 votes on table, excluding Kadaj-Bujupi, the ruling coalition is counting on the vote of Adem Hodza from the Serb party Srpska Lista, whose MPs have officially stated they will not back the deal.

However, another complication appeared for the ruling coalition after Ramiz Kelmendi, an MP from the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, which is part of the coalition, told a local TV station on Monday evening that he will not be at the parliamentary session to vote due to some threats.

"I had personal threats to my family members too," Kelmendi, who comes from the disputed area near the border with Montenegro, told T7...