Peterson not to take over his duties before August (RTS)

The new SRSG Soren Jessen Petersen is not going to take over his duties before August, because he does not intend to leave his current post of the Special EU Representative in FYROM before the end of his term. The Danish diplomat could find this time quite useful to think through what he should do with this volatile province, using experiences of his predecessors who did not really pass the Kosovo exam with flying colours. He is expected to play a major role in preparing the talks on the final Kosovo status, the talks that will be far from easy, because Kosovo Albanians, encouraged with everything that has happened in Kosovo over the past five years, are not willing to accept anything less but the full independence. Although still exposed to the brutal violence and ethnic cleansing that has culminated this March, Serbs do not want to give up on their homes easily. At the same time Serbia does not want to give up on its sovereignty over the province either. Moreover, Belgrade’s sovereignty over Kosovo has been additionally confirmed by UN SC resolution 1244. It is very hard to say how much Soren Jessen Petersen can help to finding some common ground between these irreconcilable positions, but one thing is certain the autumn is going to be much wiser than the summer. 

The Director of UNMIK Office for Returns and Communities Peggy Hicks stated that the March violence has delayed the returns plans by at least three months. Speaking at the press conference of the Inter-Governmental Commission for Returns, Hicks has expressed her worries that the number of potential returnees would fall due to the March violence. Hicks and the Kosovo Government representative Zenun Pajaziti could not have answered who was to be held responsible for the poor results of the returns process so far. Hicks tried to put part of the blame on the PISG, whereas Pajaziti only blamed UNMIK, explaining that the PISG was lacking competences and pointing out the increasing fatigue of the donors who were willing to support the return of Serbs and other non-Albanians.  

SCG and Albania have no alternative but to cooperate, says Davinic (Radio Belgrade 1)

The SCG DM Prvoslav Davinic stated following the meeting with his Albanian counterpart Pandeli Majko and the Albanian FM Kastriot Islami in Tirana that SCG and Albania are sharing the same interest: “we both want to join NATO and the EU and I think that this region is at the beginning of its European integration. The thing is that we really have no alternative but to cooperate with each other, and it should not be viewed as something that Europe imposes upon us, but rather as something of special interest for both our countries.” Davinic said that Belgrade and Tirana have identical views on the regional security, and announced that the two country would prepare a bilateral agreement on the military cooperation and take part in concrete joint activates. Davinic said that his talks with the Albanian FM Islami show that the two country mostly share views that the development of good neighborly relations, as well as those political, military and economic ones, could contribute to the creation of a favourable regional climate for solving the remaining open issues by using diplomatic and political means and by taking interests of all ethnic groups into account.

Serbian Parliament website to include Kosovo related materials (Tanjug)

The Serbian Parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee unanimously decided to put Kosovo related video and audio materials on the Serbian Parliament’s official website. These materials include documentaries made by the renowned director Ninoslav Arandjelovic. The website will be updated with information on the activities of the Parliamentary Committees for Foreign Relations and Kosovo and Metohija, Serbian PM speeches and all legislations that have been passed by the Serbian Parliament so far. The idea is to offer regular updates on the Kosovo related activities of the Serbian Parliament.

Kosovo Resolution presented in US Senate (Tanjug)

The US Senator Richard Lugar has submitted the Resolution on Kosovo, which is condemning the March violence and appealing on both Belgrade and Pristina to resume the dialogue. The resolution also calls on the US Administration to intensify its assistance to Kosovo aimed at reaching the standards that would create a stabile, multiethnic and democratic society. The document calls for the reconstruction of the destroyed property and peaceful and safe return of the internally displaced persons to their homes in Kosovo.