United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo

Azem Vlasi claims that is why the role of the United States in Kosovo and beyond is irreplaceable, reports Koha.
Vlasi pointed out that the moment will come when the United States will really join the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, and that it will not happen when Kosovo invites them, but when they find it appropriate - in the final stages of the dialogue.

Interview by Angelos Al. Athanasopoulos

Greece's recognition of Kosovo's independence would be a proof that Athens is ready to play a leading regional role in the Balkans, says Kosovo's Prime Minister Albin Kurti in an exclusive interview with To Vima.

No progress was made in the second meeting between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic within the EU-facilitated dialogue on Monday, where the missing persons issue, among other things, was discussed.

First, let me say that before judge Simmons was elevated to the presidency of the Assembly of Judges, he was also serving in the same capacity as an international criminal judge from the United Kingdom. I sat with him on the trial panel in a murder case in Prizren in 2011, and found his participation to be highly professional.

Kosovo's government, led by Vetevendosje's Albin Kurti, is preparing to reintroduce reciprocity measures against Serbia, which were lifted by the former government because they were considered an obstacle to the EU-facilitated dialogue.

She said that she thinks that it was logical for her to be included in the procedure before the Kosovo court for the murder of the leader of the Civic Initiative "Serbia, Democracy, Justice", but that she has not received such an invitation until today.

The lawyer for murdered political party leader Oliver Ivanovic said on Tuesday that allegations made by Malcolm Simmons, former head judge at the EU's rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, showed that the war crimes prosecution of the Kosovo Serb politician was a "fabricated court case".

Malcolm Simmons, a former head judge for the EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX told the Kosovo parliamentary commission on legislation on Monday that the mission prioritised putting prominent wartime figures on trial despite having little evidence, and failed to protect witnesses and deliver justice.

On Monday, Kosovo's Pristina Basic Court sentenced a former Kosovo Serb policeman, Zoran Vukotic, to ten years in prison for rape and for participating in the expulsion of ethnic Albanian civilians during the war in Kosovo in 1999.

The ruling was called historic because it the first time someone had been convicted in Kosovo of sexual abuse during the 1998-9 war.

According to him, the change of the Kosovo constitution is very possible in order to solve the issue of forming the Community of Serbian Municipalities.