European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo

BELGRADE - The EU member states on Wednesday reached an agreement in principle to extend the Eulex mandate by at least two years, Pristina's Koha ditore paper reported on Thursday, citing diplomatic sources.

The EU is ready for a continuation of the EULEX mission in Kosovo under a new mandate that would imply a smaller presence and reduced executive powers.

Tanjug agency said it learned this in Brussels on Thursday.

"Small number of people we had to arrest as we believe they facilitated the land being stolen. One of those people is Azem Syla," Alan Edwards, EULEX Chief of Organised Crime Investigation Unit told BIRN TV show Justice in Kosovo.

Azem Syla has surrendered to investigative organs of the EU mission in Kosovo (EULEX), Tanjug reported on Friday, quoting Serbia's state broadcaster RTS.

Syla is a member of the Kosovo Assembly from the ranks of President Hashim Thaci's party, the PDK, and is also Thaci's uncle.

Six persons have been arrested in Kosovo on suspicion of links to organized crime and activities that damaged the Kosovo budget and Serb families from Kosovo.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - The defense team of Citizens' Initiative SDP (GI SDP) leader Oliver Ivanovic has filed an appeal against a verdict by which Ivanovic was sentenced to nine years in prison, the GI SDP said in a release on Monday.
    

The Kosovo government has sent a plan for the transfer of all powers of the EU mission, EULEX, to local authorities.

This has been reported by the Albanian-language daily Koha Ditore, quoted by Tanjug.

KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - The defense team of Citizens' Initiative SDP (GI SDP) leader Oliver Ivanovic has filed an appeal against a verdict by which Ivanovic was sentenced to nine years in prison, the GI SDP said in a release on Monday.

Opposition parties have announced a major protest for Wednesday as state institutions plan a series of celebratory events marking eight years of Kosovo's independence.

A day ahead of a major anti-government rally, Kosovo arrested a number of opposition officials from the Vetevendosje [Self-Determination] Movement on Tuesday, in relation to offences dating back to 2009.