Hashim Thaçi

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti has repeatedly stated that consultations will be held with the country's political parties to discuss choosing the next president after Hashim Thaci's resignation, but his office told BIRN that the government has not yet set a date for talks.

But President Thaci resigned in November after being indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, raising questions about whether or not others will carry forward the initiative to set up the committee.

Artan Murati, an adviser to Kosovo's acting president, Vjosa Osmani, said that the issue has not been discussed yet.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers published on Monday a redacted decision by a pre-trial judge confirming an indictment against former President Hashim Thaci and three former fellow guerrilla commanders accusing them of crimes against humanity and war crimes during and after the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

On BIRN's televised programme Jeta ne Kosove on Thursday, Agriculture Minister Besian Mustafa expressed his dismay at the failure of the justice system in Kosovo to shed light on the murder of his father, Xhemajl, in 2000.

"The voices of the victims are indispensable to justice."

These were the words of the president of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, Ekaterina Trendafilova, when she called on victims of crimes allegedly committed by four former Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas who have since become senior politicians to participate in their war crimes case at the Hague-based court.

The proposed Draft Law on Protection of the Kosovo Liberation Army's Values failed to pass on Thursday after only 35 MPs out of a total of 120 lawmakers in the Kosovo Assembly voted in favour.

"A total of 36 deputies participated [in the vote], 35 votes in favour, one against and no abstentions," said Kosovo Assembly speaker Vjosa Osmani.

Former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj is being promoted as Kosovo's possible next president after his party authorised him on Wednesday to represent it in discussions with its coalition partners on a potential reshuffle - and on who the next president should be.

Lajcak told reporters in Pristina that he knew the dates of the meetings for the resumption of the dialogue in Brussels, but that he could not announce them for now, Pristina media reported.
"I have dates, but I can't share them with you for now, because I have to coordinate with partners and we don't have time to lose", Lajcak said.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic reacted warily on Tuesday after Richard Grenell, US president Donald Trump's special envoy for Serbia-Kosovo dialogue, announced talks at the White House on June 27 and said that Pristina and Belgrade had offered temporary concessions.

"I am ashamed to even answer to the question whether Serbia will recognize Kosovo on the eve of Vidovdan. I am ashamed, because it says more about them. It will never be on our agenda. It speaks about what others have done," he said.
He pointed out that we are facing a difficult period, which will commence with the arrival of Miroslav Lajcak.