Limaj Lawyer Urges EULEX to Give Up

balkan insight
22 SEP 2011 / 09:21

Fatmir Limaj’s lawyer called on EU prosecutors to abandon charges against his client, saying they had yet to produce any proof of corruption on Limaj's behalf while he was minister for transport.

Fatmir Aliu

Tahir Rrecaj, the lawyer representing the vice-president of the ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK,and former transport minister, said Limaj was innocent and would be proven so....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/lawyers-ask-eulex-to-drop-case-against-limaj

New Guide Puts Dragash on the Tourist Map

balkan insight
21 SEP 2011 / 09:55

Dragash in Kosovo is one of the poorest regions in the country, but it also happens to be one of the most beautiful. A new guide will encourage hikers to these underexplored mountains and plant the seeds of a sustainable tourist industry.

Shengjyl Osmani Pristina

Interested in exploring the beauties of Kosovo’s nature and still haven’t visited the Dragash area? Well, look no further: travel blogger and Pristina resident Todd Wassel has turned his incredible hiking experience in this forgotten region into a guide to discover and enjoy the area....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/new-guide-puts-dragash-on-the-tourist-map

Pristina Digging Itself Out of a Pot Hole

balkan insight
21 SEP 2011 / 09:52

After years of neglect, Pristina’s roads are being rejuvenated with 15 million euro of investment – but not everyone is convinced traffic jams or pot holes are a thing of the past.

Liridon Alidemaj Pristina

With 80 roads currently being worked at, at a cost of 15 million euro, and Pristina’s own version of Spaghetti Junction to open soon, motorists in Kosovo’s capital hope that they may soon be spared some of the gridlock and pothole dodging which has dominated driving in recent years....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/pristina-digging-itself-out-of-a-pot-hole

Kosovo Court Ruling Heightens Arrest Risk for Limaj

balkan insight
20 SEP 2011 / 18:12

Constitutional court clarification that MPs do not enjoy immunity from prosecution removes an important bar preventing EU police from arresting former minister.

Fatmir Aliu Pristina

Fatmir Limaj’s chances of being arrested rose today after Kosovo’s Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that parliamentarians are not immune from prosecution if sought by the law....more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-court-ruling-heightens-arrest-risk-for-limaj

Thaci and Berisha Dine in The Big Apple

balkan insight
20 SEP 2011 / 14:27

Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha and Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci attended a working dinner in New York together last night ahead of the 66th general assembly meeting of the United Nations.

Maryrose Fison London...more...
read more: balkan insight
http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/thaci-and-berisha-dine-in-the-big-apple

Kosovo loan rates highest in the region

se times
20/09/2011

Kosovo's Competition Commission is investigating whether the country's high interest rates stem from some kind of interbank agreement.
By Muhamet Brajshori for Southeast European Times in Pristina -- 20/09/11
Since 1999, nine banks have been operating in Kosovo, offering high loan rates that negatively impact the country's economic development. This prompted the Kosovo Competition Commission (KCC) to investigate whether the banks have a mutual agreement, or cartel, which keeps rates higher....more...
read more: se times
http://www.setimes.com/cocoon/setimes/xhtml/en_GB/features/setimes/features/2011/09/20/feature-03

Kosovo Set to Take 2 Key Border Posts

ny times
By MATTHEW BRUNWASSER

Published: September 15, 2011
BELGRADE — The Republic of Kosovo is preparing to take control Friday over the last two posts along its border with Serbia that are beyond its authority, an event that threatens to reignite tensions between the two adversaries....more...
read more: ny times
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/16/world/europe/16iht-kosovo16.html?_r=3&ref=europe

NATO's Rasmussen Urges Kosovo, Serbia For Calm

radio free europe
September 15, 2011

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen says the military alliance will not allow the Balkan region to slip back into violence amid simmering tensions between Kosovo and Serbia over a border dispute.
Rasmussen made the comments during a brief visit to Pristina, a day before Kosovo authorities are to deploy police and customs officials at two disputed border crossings with Serbia....more...
read more: radio free europe
http://www.rferl.org/content/nato_rasmussen_urges_kosovo_serbia_calm/24329540.html

Tensions Rise In Northern Kosovo

radio free europe
Last updated (GMT/UTC): 14.09.2011 07:50

Tensions are rising in the north of Kosovo as Pristina's mainly ethnic Albanian rulers try to assert control over a slice of the north mainly populated by ethnic Serbs....more...
read more: radio free europe
http://www.rferl.org/content/kosovo_tensions_thaci/24327745.html

Europe Weekly: Gas, Greece and a Kosovo compromise

euronews
Economic crisis - European Union - Gas - Greece - Kosovo

09/09 19:57 CET

In this week’s Europe Weekly we take a look at the EU’s new energy strategy, a customs deal in Kosovo and the eurozone debt crisis. We also chat to the Vice President of the European Investment Bank to see how Greece can breath life into its economy. That is all this week in Europe Weekly....more....
read more: euronews
http://www.euronews.net/2011/09/09/europe-weekly-gas-greece-and-a-kosovo-compromise/

North Kosovo Meltdown

international crisis group
Marko Prelec, Crisis Group Balkans Project

6 Sep 2011
The long-simmering dispute over the Serb-held North of Kosovo has entered a dangerous phase. Serbia and Kosovo are raising tensions in the field despite making technical agreements at the negotiation table. On 2 September the EU brokered an agreement on customs stamps and cadastral records. Observers could conclude that the crisis started on 25 July at the border is now over. It is not. An important first step, the agreement says nothing about who will actually control the two disputed border posts and the customs revenue they generate. The real dispute is about the status of north Kosovo. Belgrade still believes it can partition Kosovo, keeping the Serb-inhabited north. Pristina is intent on asserting its practical sovereignty over its whole territory. Until the two work out a compromise the situation risks quick deterioration.....more...
read more: international crisis group
http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/publication-type/blogs/the-balkan-regatta/north-kosovo-meltdown.aspx

Kosovo border violence on UN Security Council agenda

bbc news
Recent deadly violence in Kosovo is set to be on the agenda as the UN Security Council meets in New York, but there are also new hopes for peace.

Fighting flared in July when Kosovo's authorities sent police into the north, the territory's biggest Serb area.
Serbia, which refuses to accept an independent Kosovo, wants the Security Council to condemn the action....more...
read more: bbc news
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14715623

Kosovo-Serbia: A Risky Moment for the International Community

international crisis group
Sabine Freizer

2 Aug 2011
For the first time since independence in 2008 there is a sense in Kosovo that the international community is choosing sides with NATO supporting the Kosovo government and the EU critical of it. The public perception may be false – as both NATO and EU are working closely together to assure security after the 25 July attempt by the Kosovo special police to take control of two custom posts with Serbia and the consequent burning of one of those posts by Serb protestors – but if this public perception persists tensions will rise, and it will become much more difficult for either party to mediate. One Kosovo police has already been killed....more...
read more: international crisis group
http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/publication-type/blogs/the-balkan-regatta/kosovo-serbia-a-risky-moment-for-the-international-community.aspx

A break from customary hostilities

the economist
Serbia and Kosovo
Sep 5th 2011, 14:21 by T.J.

WHERE there is a will, there is a way. Even, it seems, in talks between Serbia and Kosovo. On September 3rd it was announced that a breakthrough had been made in talks between the two sides in Brussels, sponsored by the European Union. Serbia will accept goods being exported to or through Serbia which are cleared by “Kosovo Customs” and in return Kosovo will lift its embargo on Serbian goods, imposed in July. ...more...
read more: the economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2011/09/serbia-and-kosovo

Serbia and Kosovo reach deal to end mutual trade embargo

deutsche welle

TRADE

02.09.2011
A mutual trade embargo between Serbia and Kosovo has been lifted, paving the way for goods to flow freely through the two countries. The EU, which mediated the talks, says the deal makes the region look more European.

Serbia and its former province Kosovo on Friday reached an agreement to end a mutual trade embargo during European Union-mediated talks in Brussels.

The EU described the agreement, under which the two sides will allow products from each other's territories to pass freely, as an important step towards improving bilateral relations....
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15362158,00.html

Kosovan premier investigated over organ trafficking

independent

By Neni Qena

Tuesday, 30 August 2011

A US prosecutor will investigate claims that Kosovo's Prime Minister led a criminal network that sold organs of civilian captives during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

John Clint Williamson was named lead prosecutor for a task force set up to investigate the allegations raised in a report last year by the Council of Europe investigator Dick Marty....more...
read more: independent
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/kosovan-premier-investigated-over-organ-trafficking-2345883.html

Kosovo’s leader to be investigated over organ trafficking allegations

telegraph

KOSOVO

Allegations that Kosovo’s prime minister led a criminal gang that sold the organs of prisoners captured during the country’s war of independence against Serbia are to be investigated by an American prosecutor.

By Nick Squires
5:11PM BST 30 Aug 2011

John Clint Williamson has been named by the European Union mission in Kosovo as the chief prosecutor in a task force which has been set up to investigate the accusations against Hashim Thaci which date back to 1999....more...
read more: telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/kosovo/8731378/Kosovos-leader-to-be-investigated-over-organ-trafficking-allegations.html

Kosovo: Premier Is Investigated

ny times

WORLD BRIEFING / EUROPE

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: August 30, 2011

An American prosecutor will investigate accusations that Prime Minister Hashim Thaci of Kosovo led a criminal network that sold organs taken from civilian captives during the Kosovo war for independence from Serbia in 1998-99, the European Union Mission in Kosovo said on Monday. The prosecutor, John Clint Williamson, was named as leader of a task force set up to investigate the accusations, which were raised in a report last year by the Council of Europe. Mr. Thaci has denied the accusations and has said he is ready to cooperate with any investigation....more...

read more: ny times

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/30/world/europe/30briefs-Kosovo.html?ref=europe

Prosecutor announced in Kosovo organ trafficking inquiry

deutsche welle
KOSOVO

29.08.2011
A US prosecutor is to head a task force investigating alleged criminal activity, including organ trafficking, by Kosovar leaders including Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.

A task force to investigate allegations that Kosovo's prime minister was involved in an organ trafficking network has announced the investigation will be led by a US prosecutor.

John Clint Williamson was named 'lead prosecutor' in the EU Rule of Law Mission (EULEX) task force, which was set up to investigate allegations raised in a Council of Europe report last year....more...
read more: deutsche welle
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15351029,00.html

Kosovo PM to be investigated for alleged organ trafficking

guardian

US prosecutor will lead an investigation into claims that date back to the 1998-99 war that gave Kosovo independence

Associated Press

guardian.co.uk, Monday 29 August 2011 18.10 BST

A US prosecutor will investigate claims that Hashim Thaci, the Kosovo prime minister, led a criminal network that sold organs of prisoners during the 1998-99 Kosovo war.

Dick Marty, a Council of Europe investigator, has alleged that Thaci and other rebel commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army ran detention centres where civilian captives, including Serbs, were killed and their organs sold on the black market. Thaci has denied the allegation and said he is ready to co-operate with any investigation....more...
read more: guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/aug/29/kosovo-pm-investigated-organ-trafficking