Kosovo Parliament to Debate Platform on Dialogue with Serbia

Members of the Kosovo parliament will discuss the government's official platform on the dialogue with Serbia during Monday's session.

Ramush Haradinaj's government approved the platform in April, which includes a proposal for President Hashim Thaci to lead the EU-led dialogue with Serbia.

Following the proposal by the government, the speaker of parliament and head of the governing Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, Kadri Veseli, called for a political consensus on the issue - and for Thaci to handle the process.

The opposition Vetevendosje party, however, which has opposed the dialogue all along, has not rallied behind this call to back the President.

"The letter intends to invent a unity team for a controversial president like Thaci. This is wrong and damaging for Kosovo," Vetevendosje spokesperson Tinka Kurti told BIRN after Veseli's letter was published in April.

An MP for the opposition Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, Armend Zemaj, has said his party has taken no official decision whether it will support the platform. However, Zemaj said he does not consider Thaci a unifying figure.

Another LDK MP, Vjosa Osmani, told BIRN in April that the platform proposed by the government was a mistake because, according to her, the assembly lacks any mechanism to overview the President's work.

The platform reads that the President is obliged to report to assembly on a regular basis about the process of the dialogue.

But Osmani said it would be wrong "leaving such a crucial issue in the hands of a person who never reports to MPs", referring to Thaci.

The EU-led process has stalled repeatedly lately, with each side blaming the other for the impasse and accusing the other side of obstruction.

Serbia has demanded that...

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