Kosovo Serbs in the northern cities of Mitrovica and Gracanica are gathered to protest the government’s decision to not allow polling stations to open in Kosovo for Serbia’s national elections of April 3. Protests had been forewarned after representatives of the community met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade on Tuesday. Protestors claim they
Kosovo refused to allow the opening of Serbian polling stations in its territory for Serbia’s April 3 elections, drawing criticism from the Quint (US, UK, France, Germany, Italy). Serbia denounced the neighboring country for lack of cooperation, and announced that its Serbs will be able to vote in polling stations in Serbia. On Tuesday, Peter
Serbs of Kosovo could vote in Serbian elections on April 3 only if Belgrade presents the government in Prishtina with a request in compliance with the country’s laws and good practices in EU member countries. “To date, we have not received any request from Serbia to hold elections,” Mimoza Kusari-Lila, the ruling Vetevendosje party’s chief
28 years ago, on December 5, 1994, I participated as a member of the Albanian delegation in the summit of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) that took place in Budapest. This summit is remembered for the decision to transform the Conference into an organization with permanent institutions, today known as the
The Albanian government has still not amended or withdrawn the “anti-defamation” package from the agenda of parliament, despite calls for it to be brought in line with EU standards. Widely criticsed by the European Union, Parliament and Commission, the Council of Europe, international media freedom organisations, local stakeholders, and President Ilir Meta who vetoed it,
The international observer mission of the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) will have more than 250 observers at polling stations throughout Serbia for the 3 April elections. The core team will consist of 16 international experts, seven women and nine men from 14 different OSCE countries. “The core team is in
With Serbia heading to parliamentary and presidential elections in April, the campaign is stepping up. But little attention is being paid to the 3,000 ethnic Albanian minority living in the southern Presevo Valley who have been illegally struck off the voting list. For the last seven years, academic and researcher Flora Ferhati-Sachsenmeir has investigated and
On Thursday, the Albanian Parliament convened to vote on constitutional amendments to extend the mandate of judicial vetting bodies. As part of Albania’s far-reaching justice reform, two commissions were established in 2016 and tasked with vetting over 800 judges and prosecutors. Their mandates expire in June 2022. They began to operate in October 2017, and
Representatives of the OSCE have joined the US and EU in Albania in calling for Parliament to extend the mandate of vetting institutions during Thursday’s parliamentary vote. On Tuesday evening, the US and EU embassies released a joint statement declaring their unequivocal support for extending the mandates of the two commissions tasked with vetting all
An agreement has been signed between key institutions to step up the search for the 6000 people still missing in Albanian following the fall of communism. Gledis Nano, the head of the State Police and Gentiana Sula, President of the Authority for Information on Former state Security Documents (AIDSSH), signed the cooperation agreement document on