Update:
No coalition agreement was reached in the meeting between LVV and LDK on Tuesday, also attended by ambassadors of the five Western countries. Kurti told the media that his party were open for an agreement “more than ever”, but that the LDK needed to give up their request to replace the Speaker of Parliament.
Western Countries Won’t Mediate Formation of Kosovo’s Government
Quint countries will not engage in mediation between Kosovo’s two largest parliamentary parties to form a coalition government.
Following news from Lëvizja Vetëvendosje (LVV) party that their leader Albin Kurti and leader of Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) had agreed to invite the five ambassadors in today’s meeting at 17.00, the Quint embassies denied having received any invitation.
In a joint statement by the Embassies of France, Germany, Italy, United Kingdom, and the United States, they clarified that their position with regard to the process of government formation in Kosovo was to “encourage all political actors in Kosovo to focus on the aspirations of the people of Kosovo” but not engage in mediations between political parties.
The statement came after the media reported on today’s expected meeting, following an announcement on LVV’s website.
Erzen Vraniqi, the head of the LVV’s Media and Communication Office clarified on Facebook that Kurti and Mustafa had agreed to invite the Quint ambassadors to today’s meeting in order to avoid their possible misunderstanding regarding negotiations between parties. “They were never thought of as mediators but only as eventual facilitators, which they have offered themselves to do.”
Shortly before the start of the meeting in Parliament, Mustafa stated that ambassadors were invited by Kurti and he couldn’t tell whether they would attend. Deputy-head of the LVV Besnik Bislimi said ambassadors will attend the meeting, according to local media.
Albin Kurti of the LVV got has one more week, from the constitutional deadline of 15 days, to form a government and get it approved in parliament. So far, the two parties have not been able to agree on the terms of their possible governing coalition.
