Democratic League of Kosovo

Isa Mustafa, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, at the Kosovo Assembly in May 2017. Photo: EPA-EFE/ Valdrin Xhemaj

The leader of the junior partner in Kosovo's coalition government, the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, said on Wednesday evening that he will file a motion for a no-confidence vote after one of the party's ministers was sacked from the cabinet.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti on Wednesday dismissed Interior Minister Agim Veliu amid a dispute over whether to impose a state of emergency which has pitted the country's top political leaders against each other.

Donald Trump Jr wrote on Twitter on Tuesday that he agrees with a suggestion by Republican senator David Perdue that the US should "reconsider its presence" in Kosovo if Pristina does not agree to fully revoke its 100 per cent tariffs on imports from Serbia.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Friday dismissed the decision of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to partly lift tariffs on Serbian imports as "another attempted fraud". 

The handover of power was carried out in the absence of former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, who is reported to be in the US, according to the Pristina Gazette Express.
Namely, MPs of Pacolli's New Kosovo Alliance party supported the election of Kurti's government.

"We expect the fees to be abolished immediately," Grenell said in a statement passed to the AP.
Grenell, who is also the US ambassador to Germany, said the US "made clear to party leaders in Kosovo that the abolition of tariffs was in the best interests of Kosovo and its economy, as well as its desire to attract new job opportunities".

Albin Kurti, Kosovo's candidate for Prime Minister, has only until next Tuesday to form a new government - while the two main parties, his own Vetevendosje Movement and the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, have not yet reached a coalition agreement.

Hopes of forming a new coalition government in Kosovo suffered another blow on Monday amid fresh mud-slinging between the two largest parties - when the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, accused its potential partner, Vetevendosje, of acting unilaterally to form key institutions.

The course of talks in Kosovo on forming a new government changed yet again on Wednesday when the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, made yet another proposal to its potential senior partner, Vetevendosje, this time about who should get the post of parliament speaker as part of the splitting of power between them.