Organised crime problem dogs EU record on Kosovo

EU Observer Jan. 25, 2012 By Andrew Rettman

BRUSSELS – Four years after the EU’s biggest-ever police mission came to Kosovo it has not indicted any top suspects on organised crime, posing questions about its work and the integrity of Kosovo’s leaders.

Eulex itself is proud of its record. Its training of Kosovo police and customs is a success story. When the EU completes its Eulex review in the next few weeks, it is expected to reduce personnel to let local officers take over many day-to-day functions.

Eulex’ spokesman in Pristina, Nicholas Hawton, told EUobserver it also has “clear results” in chasing criminals in its war-scarred and politically complex theatre of operations.

He added it has 350 ongoing criminal investigations and that its judges have handed down 220 verdicts – 15 on organised crime and 20 on war crimes. One of the investigations concerns accusations that Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci used to run an organ trafficking gang. On the shocking case of Enver Zymberi – a Kosovar Albanian policeman murdered by a Serb sniper last year – its investigation has led Interpol to issue six arrest warrants.

A draft European Parliament report endorsed by the foreign affairs committee on Tuesday (24 January) urged it to “increase its efforts” in the Kosovar Serb enclave in north Kosovo and to “step up” its work on organised crime.

But it blamed EU member states for shortfalls: it noted EU countries are reluctant to send their best judges to Kosovo and it asked France, Italy and Romania to “reconsider” pulling home its so-called Formed Police Units – specialists in riot control.

The author of the report – Austrian Green MEP Ulrike Lunacek – was a bit sharper in remarks to this website.

“They should have been quicker. It would have helped the way they are seen in the country to already have indictments on high level corruption cases,” she said.

But another EU deputy – Italian Socialist Pino Arlacchi, who in his time helped create Italy’s Direzione Investigativa Antimafia (DIA) – was scathing.

He noted that Eulex’ €150-million-a-year budget is comparable to the DIA’s, which has scalped several mafia bosses in a country of 60 million people and one of the worst organised crime problems in the world.

He called Eulex “amateurish” and highlighted that its first supergrass – Agim Zogay – was found hung in Germany last year.

For his part, Eulex’ Hawthorn said Zogay “tragically took his own life” in something which “no witness protection programme in the world [could] prevent.”

Arlacchi noted: “Witness protection is the cornerstone of every organised crime operation … the fact they were not able to give him a basic level of protection – and it doesn’t matter whether it was suicide or homicide, this person was badly assisted – what more do you want [as proof of Eulex' failure]?”

With big fish like Fatmir Limaj, a former transport minister accused of corruption but not yet tried, threatening to bring down Thaci – a US darling – if he goes to jail, Arlacchi also accused Eulex of sheltering suspects for political reasons.

He said he has seen classified papers held by Eulex containing “clear intelligence” about crimes by “top leaders.” He added: “They don’t want to alter the political landscape … Everyone who knows Kosovo shares this opinion, but I am one of the few who is willing to say that this is the truth.”

The more circumspect Austrian MEP Lunacek added: “There is an interest by some in the international community to keep Thaci because he is the one they know. He is the one who gives a certain stability.”

The International Steering Group – a body of 25 Kosovo-recognising countries – also on Tuesday in Vienna said the “young state” has made such progress that it plans to end political supervision of Thaci’s government by the end of 2012.

“[This] means that Kosovo has been completely successful … that Kosovo will function like any other independent state, with a clear European perspective,” Thaci said.

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Kosovo’s “kidney” cartel

Link: http://english.ruvr.ru/2012/01/17/64033407.html

 
The case of the Medicus clinic can add a dark spot on the reputation of the leadership of Kosovo, a country not recognized by Russia. In that clinic a group of doctors managed by a highly ranking Ministry of Health official conducted illegal organ transplantation surgeries. There are a number of Russian citizens among the victims.

In 2008 the «black transplantology surgeons» allured Serbians, Turks, Belorussians and Russian citizens as well as people of other nationalities by promising them to pay up to 15 thousand euro per kidney. As a result over 30 such «donors» were cheated: they either received a lot less or nothing at all. Meanwhile the entrepreneurial doctors received about 100 thousand euro profit on each successful surgery.

Here is one example described by the Serbian press. A student from Belorussia named A.K. in his Internet search for ways to make money ran into a web site specializing in transplant organ supply. He sent a letter by e-mail and shortly received an offer of 10 thousand euro for his kidney.

In Kosovo his kidney was transplanted to an American, but he received only 8 thousand euro. Then he was offered to start a «marketing network». The Belorussian was told that the rest of the money he would receive when back at home he finds more potential organ donors. A.K. was to «additionally» receive 500 dollars from each surgery. In the end the student did not find any willing donors, nor did he himself fully recover from the surgery.

The Medicus case process started in October 2011 under the auspices of the EU Mission in Kosovo (EULEX). The severeness of the potential punishment for the process participants is demostrated by the fact that the Turkish Prosecutor has requested a 171 year sentense for Turkey’s citizen – surgeon Yusuf Sonmez. It is believed that this person nicknamed «Doctor Frankenstein» conducted 11 illegal organ removal surgeries.

The “Medicus Case” can potentially be directly traced to the events of the end of 1990s. In her book “The Hunt: Me and the war criminals” Carla Del Ponte, chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia tells about 300 non-Albanians kidnapped in Kosovo in 1999. The victims were transferred to a special “yellow house” in Northern Albania where their kidneys and other vital organs were surgically removed.

Carla Del Ponte states that all this activity was known to the leaders of the terrorist organization the «Kosovo Liberation Army», one of those leaders is the current prime minister of Kosovo Hashim Thaci.

Thaci’s name as well as the Medicus clinic are both mentioned in the famous report on organ-trafficking prepared for PACE by Swiss diplomat Dick Marti. The Russian diplomatic community tends to believe that «most likely the same network was active in Kosovo. And if we trust the information provided by Del Ponte and Marti it was with the consent of Kosovo’s top officials».

Nevertheless, the key issue remains whether the EU Mission is capable of conducting an objective investigation of the cases of «black transplantology» in Kosovo. One can assume that the Medicus case would become a showcase process that in no way would affect the «honour» of Kosovo’s top officials.

«Many proofs have already been hidden, many witnesses have died of natural causes or were killed. Some people who have something to say are afraid to testify. It would be difficult to conduct a fair and objective process. First of all the issue of the protection of witnesses has to be a priority. Here we are talking about a case against a mafia cartel that is running Kosovo and that has Washington’s support», Serbian politician Branco Radun talked about the potential obtacles in the investigation process.

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Turkey, Balkans at the Drug-Trafficking Crossroad

From the South Eastern European Times
Comments on the issue by the writer of this blog

Given its location straddled between Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East, Turkey acts as a central transit route for drug trafficking from Iran and Afghanistan to European countries.

About 80% of Afghan-poppy derived heroin flows through Turkey and the Balkans on its way to Western Europe. The UN calls this “the Balkan Route”.

“The Balkan Route remains a main corridor of heroin trafficking to European countries,” Hamid Ghodse, president of the UN International Narcotics Control Board, told SES Türkiye.

Ghodse says there is an “increasing diversity in the methods and routes used in the trafficking of heroin to Europe”.

Turkey is affected by three main heroin drug trafficking routes: the Southern Balkan route, the Northern Balkan route and the Eastern Mediterranean route.

In 2010, Ghodse says the quantity of heroin seized in Europe trafficked along the Northern Balkan Route through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria decreased compared to the Southern Balkan Route to Italy via Greece, Albania or Macedonia.

The vast majority of drugs crossing the Turkish border are destined for transit out of the country.

In Ankara, officials say their national, regional and international efforts against drug trafficking are effective — even more successful than EU countries.

Behsat Ekici, chief of police at the Department of Anti-Smuggling and Organised Crime of the Turkish National Police, told SES Türkiye they have launched a total of 140 large-scale international operations within the last five years, which “have played a key role in the collapse of the international drug networks”.

“Turkey’s commitment in the fight against drugs continues increasingly,” he says, adding that in the past few years Turkey alone has seized more than twice the amount of heroin than the 27 EU countries did.

In 2010, he says, 81,200 drug operations were carried out by national law enforcement agencies throughout the country, which ended in the arrest of 125,208 individuals for involvement in drug crimes, yielding 12,960kg of confiscated heroin.

Ekici emphasises that this is “incomparably higher” that in neighbouring countries, such as Greece and Bulgaria, which confiscated 520kg and 365kg of heroin during the same period, respectively. “The risk to smugglers that comes from Turkey’s operations has led to less use of the Balkan Route by the smugglers,” he added.

However some regional analysts, such as Ioannis Michaletos, an Athens-based researcher at the World Security Network Foundation, say anti-narcotics co-operation among Greece-Turkey-Bulgaria is not ideal.

Drug trafficking should be prevented globally, “because it is not only Turkey or Greece’s problem, but it also encompasses other countries as well, such as Afghanistan, Iran and Western Europe”.

Ethnic-based organised crime groups and diaspora networks are believed to help move the drugs along their destination throughout the route.

The so-called “Albanian organised crime” has steadily become a major distributor of heroin in the Balkans and EU.

“The presence of other strong criminal networks such as the Italian Dragetta, the Montenegro clans, Turkish drug kingpins, Russian and Caucasian criminal cells and Serbian narcotics groups, should not be overlooked,” Michaletos says.

On the other hand, Kurdish populations in the tri-border area of Turkey-Iraq-Iran facilitate narcotics contraband. Iran and Turkey have a visa free regime, and border controls along the porous border are lax or easily evaded.

Back in the Balkans, widespread public sector corruption is also another major issue for drug trafficking.

“The Balkan countries have way too many strong and organised criminal groups concentrated and operating in the same region,” Michaletos says.

“Illegal organised prostitution rings in the Balkans are directly related to narcotics, since police investigations in several countries have revealed over the years that the drug dealers first raise capital by illegal prostitution, before venturing into the narcotics trade, which is even more profitable,” he told SES Türkiye.

Michaletos says special attention should be paid to co-operation between security and police forces in the region against money laundering. Above all, he adds, political will is needed to enforce a regional anti-narcotics policy.

Matteo Albertini, a researcher at Balkanalysis.com, is concerned that some local mafia groups, such as Italian groups, are finding new allies in Balkan states, which could move the drugs from the Middle East and Turkey to the EU.

However, the analyst believes that the entrance of Bulgaria and Romania in the Schengen Zone will enforce the control of the shores of the Black Sea, a traditional access point for drug smugglers in the Balkan Peninsula.

Hajrudin Somun, former Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) ambassador to Turkey, emphasises that drug smugglers find it easier to operate in countries that are politically unstable like BiH and Kosovo, or that score poorly in fighting organised crime, such as Bulgaria and Romania.

“There are some joint regional countries’ police actions against the drug trade and trafficking, but more ‘political will’ is needed for linking such activities in an organised chain of co-ordination,” he told SES Türkiye.

Somun says Russia has shown a special interest in co-operating with the Balkans countries to cut off drug routes, particularly going through Kosovo.

Meanwhile, according to the Turkish police research, drug traffickers have started using some other alternative routes to Europe, such as from Iran and Pakistan to Britain. Ekinci says Turkey has launched several joints operations with the British government against them.

For Hamid Ghodse, it is important that governments take action, “albeit [it is] never enough to combat drug traffickers, as indicated by the seizures.”

He reminds that some countries, such as Romania and Bulgaria, have recently undertaken certain positive initiatives to strengthen their drug strategies and the fight against drug abuse and trafficking.

“Although the initiatives at the national and regional level are commendable, cross-national co-operation, collaboration, shared responsibility, and sustainability of actions are essential and paramount to the success against the drug traffickers,” Ghodse says.

He highlights that more needs to be done against corruption, and says effective law enforcement to curb supply is needed. Also, he says comprehensive drug demand reduction is the cornerstone of a good drug control policy and strategy.

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Ioannis Michaletos interview to newspaper Pravda in Serbia

Interview to the journalist Dragan Basovic for newspaper Pravda in Belgrade

Original link in Serbian:

http://www.pravda.rs/2012/01/08/%D0%88%D0%BE%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%81-%D0%9C%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%81-%D0%91%D0%B5%D0%BE%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%B4%D1%83-%D1%81%D0%BC%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%98%D1%83-%D0%A1%D1%80/

-Is an agreeement between Belgrade and Pristina possible?
An agreement is very difficult under present conditions. I think it will take several years before even an “interim” agreement takes place, let along a final one. It is very difficult for Belgrade to agree in loss of its national terrritory and on the other hand the Albanians do not want really to negotiate anything, for the time being.

 
- The Serbian government decided to enable freedom of movement on the Northern municipality. Local authorities of the region rejected what the government in Belgrade decided and said that they will have referendum about the authorities of Prisitna. Where their reactions lead into?

This is a crucial development and it seems that for sure in 2012 there will be more trouble in the North of Kosovo. Also one should take into account the expanding role of Germany in the region plus the American plans and the Russian ambitions. I believe there is still potential for conflict in that particular area. Also it is likely that there is going to be a clash between Kosovo-Serbs and the current Serbian goverment.

- The way the international community insists on a quick solution for Kosovo? Is it linked with the Serbian candidacy for the EU and early elections in Kosovo?
The Germans for sure have linked a final solution in Kosovo with EU’s acceptance of Serbia. About the rest of the “international communitiy” is not so certain. Moreover it has to be noted that in 2012 a lot of important developments are expected across Europe due to the ongoing financial crisis, therefore the issue of Kosovo will be used as a pretext so as not to accept Serbia or other Western Balkan countries into the EU, that has a lot of difficulties operating.

-Kosovo’s acting President Jakup Krasniqi has met chiefs of assembly groups in the to discuss how to pull Kosovo out of its institutional crisis.Is political unstability in Pristina good for Serbs regarding the North of the Eparchy?

It is good as long as Belgrade has a strategic plan

- Is Greece in danger if situation on North Kosovo gets out of from control?
Greece monitors situation in Kosovo closely because it always suspects a destabilization in the whole of the Balkans, plus it monitors potential Turkish reaction in the region and Albanian moves towards a potential “Great Albania plans”. Currently the issue is not high in the Greek foreign policy agenda, but it is always assessed by diplomatic and political authorities, as well as military ones, due to the presence of Greek soldiers there.

 
- German company Mercedes will leave Kosovo beecause of coruption.What does this mean?
This is a very interesting development that I assume it is realted to the “under the scenes” conflict for influence in Kosovo between the Americans and the Germans. This antagonism started years ago and still goes on and it is related also to business interests and companies competition between these two countries

 
-Military base Bondsteell will be, after the withdrawl of USA soldiers, under Turkish control. What do you think about that?
This means in most respects that Turkey will play a more active political role in the Western Balkans. But dont be sure that eventually Turkish military will have full control. It is more likely that there are going to be changes and finally US Army will remain and retain most of the control.

-What will be the main task of the Turkish soldiers in Bondsteel? Is this related to the Great Albania project?
In case the Turkish Amry seizes control of the base (Something which is not certain), then this will benefit of course the Albanian side, since both countries have develop strong links over the past years. In case of a regional conflict it is certain that Turkey will support the “great Albania” plans. But I have to say, that it is not certain that Turkey will actually gain control of the Bondsteel base.

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Turkey Approves Russian Gas Plan

Wall Street Journal By JACOB GRONHOLT-PEDERSEN Dec. 29, 2011

 
MOSCOW—Russia secured approval from Turkey on Wednesday to build the South Stream gas pipeline across the Black Sea, removing the last major obstacle to proceed with a project that could increase Europe’s dependence on Russian natural-gas supplies.

The move heats up the battle between Russia and the European Union over competing pipelines, especially the European Union-backed Nabucco project, and increases pressure on Ukraine to give Moscow control of its pipeline system.
Turkey’s approval, given by Energy Minister Taner Tildiz during talks with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Wednesday, had been a stumbling point for Russia to proceed with the offshore part of the South Stream project.

Russian state gas giant OAO Gazprom ships most of its gas exports to Europe via Ukraine, but supply disruptions in recent years due to pricing disagreements between the two countries have led Russia to seek to bypass Ukraine and promote new pipelines such as South Stream.

Analysts say progress on South Stream increases pressure on Ukraine. Kiev is pushing for cheaper gas in order to balance its budget.

But in exchange for cheaper gas, Moscow is aiming to gain control of Ukraine’s pipeline system.

South Stream is envisioned to carry as much as 63 billion cubic meters of Russian gas under the Black Sea to Bulgaria, Serbia and Hungary before branching out to Western Europe.

Gazprom, the main shareholder in the project and a major supplier of gas to Europe, said Turkey’s approval means South Stream will start operating according to plan by the end of 2015. ENI SpA of Italy, BASF SE of Germany and Électricité de France SA are minority partners in the project.

“This is a very good and positive signal for all of us, which undoubtedly will provide stability in energy supplies to the European market,” said Mr. Putin.

A European Commission spokesman played down the impact of the South Stream agreement, which he said “would not affect the existing framework and commitments.”

European officials say that, unlike Nabucco, South Stream hasn’t reached the project stage yet.

Nabucco is the most ambitious and expensive of four competing proposals to take gas from Azerbaijan, and possibly eventually from other countries, into the European Union. But Nabucco’s estimated cost is a potential deterrent for developers of the giant gas field, which lies under the Caspian Sea. A decision on the winning project is expected to be announced in the first half of 2012.

Gazprom has insisted South Stream will be built regardless of talks with Ukraine, but Gazprom Chief Executive Alexei Miller said earlier this week that realization of South Stream depends on the continuing talks with Kiev.

“This all looks like negotiating tactics, as Russia prepares for a new round of talks with Ukraine,” said Johannes Benigni, managing director at Vienna-based research consultant JBC Energy. “I don’t think they need to build South Stream at all.”

Last month, another transit country, Belarus, sold its gas-pipeline operator Beltransgaz to Gazprom in exchange for a major discount on gas supplies. Ukraine is likely to face a similar situation, Mr. Benigni said, adding that with a $15.5 billion price tag on South Stream it would make more sense for Gazprom to invest its money in Ukraine.

The news on Russian progress on South Stream also comes as the Nabucco project, which seeks to carry gas from Azerbaijan and other Central Asian countries to Europe, has faced hurdles. The EU has promoted Nabucco to reduce the bloc’s dependence on Russia but suffered a setback as Azerbaijan recently said it plans to build its own pipeline through Turkey that would run parallel to Nabucco’s planned route.

South Stream has failed to gain backing in Brussels and has still to get exemptions from new EU rules known as the Third Energy Package. The legislation is pushing for more competition in Europe’s energy market and has sparked tensions with Russia as Moscow believes they undermine its own investments in the 27-nation EU, including South Stream.

—Laurence Norman and Alessandro Torello
contributed to this article.

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Angela Merkel is expected to visit Kosovo

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty     December 16, 2011

PRISTINA -- German chancellor Angela Merkel is expected to visit Kosovo on December 19, RFE/RL's Kosovo Unit reports.

The German Embassy in Pristina confirmed that Merkel is to visit German peacekeeping troops in

Kosovo and will meet with Kosovo officials.

Thirty German and Austrian soldiers were injured on November 28, some by small-arms fire and Molotov cocktails,

when hundreds of Serbs resisted an attempt by NATO peacekeepers to remove roadblocks erected by Serbs

in the north of Kosovo.

Kosovo Serbs have been blocking some roads in the north to stop the country's majority ethnic

Albanian-dominated leadership from extending its control over the part of the country populated mostly by ethnic Serbs.

While addressing the German parliament early this month, Merkel said the confrontations

between NATO soldiers and Serbs on the border with Kosovo show that Serbia is not yet ready

to be a candidate for European Union membership.

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U.S. envoy on Kosovo, Serbia-U.S. relations

Source: VOA, Tanjug
WASHINGTON -- U.S. Ambassador in Belgrade Mary Warlick has stated that it is necessary

to resolve the issue of Kosovo's participation in regional forums.

She stressed that she supports Serbia in taking additional steps in the

coming months that might enable the European Council to make a positive decision on Serbia's EU candidacy

in March next year.

Warlick stated for Voice of America that progress has been made in the dialogue, but that Kosovo's

participation in regional forums has not been resolved yet, as well as that it is very bad that

there are barricades in Kosovo, and added that she expects that Serbian President Boris Tadi?

will continue to do all he can to normalize the situation. 

"This is very important as it proves commitment of both sides in terms of regional cooperation

and normalization of business with regional partners and international community.

The European Union would welcome such progress in near future and I strongly urge citizens on both sides and leaders of both governments to stay committed to this process," the U.S. ambassador was quoted as saying. 

Mary Warlick (Beta, file)

She expressed belief that the EU doors are still open for Serbia, and reiterated the stance

by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Deputy President Joseph Biden that they support

Serbia's integration into Europe. 

"We want strong, productive relations between the U.S. and Serbia, since these relations have great potential.

Besides the progress which has been made so far, there is a much greater potential, for instance in the economic domain,"

the diplomat said. 

Warlick stated that much more can be done on promotion of relations of the two peoples and in the domain of education,

at the same time commending Serbia's engagement in the domain of global security. 

"In the last few years, Serbia clearly stated its desire to contribute to the area of global security

through greater engagement in multinational peacekeeping missions under the auspices of the UN and the European Union.

Moreover, an important contribution to strengthening of relations comes from the strong military partnership

with the National Guard in Ohio. I hope for further progress in all areas," the U.S. ambassador said. 

Speaking about the economic cooperation between the U.S. and Serbia, she said that she was encouraged

by new investments of certain American companies, such as the Ohio-based Cooper Tire & Rubber company. 

"That is excellent investment which will create almost 500 jobs, and even more in the coming years.

Also, a few weeks ago Sitel opened its contact center. I hope that new investments will be realized soon,

but on its part, Serbia should understand that it must compete with other regional countries,

and in that sense facilitate business dealings, tackle corruption-related issues.

In reference to this, the country has already taken many important measures," Warlick concluded.

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Kosovo: Border crossing tension continues after clashes

Belgrade/Pristina, 29 Nov. (AKI) - The situation in northern Kosovo was calm but tense on Tuesday,

after a day of violence during which 23 NATO soldiers and over thirty Serbs were injured

in clashes in northern village of Jagnjenica on Monday.
Serbian president Boris Tadic and his Kosovo counterpart Atifete Jahjaga condemned

the clashes and appealed for calm, saying dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina was the only way for peaceful solution.

The violence broke out as NATO soldiers stationed in Kosovo (KFOR) removed a roadblock

in Jagnjenica, set up by local Serbs in protest over the placing of Kosovo police

and customs at two northern border crossings, Brnjak and Jarinje.

Belgrade opposes Kosovo independence, declared by majority Albanians in 2008.

Kosovo's minority Serbs, who make majority population in the north, have been blocking roads for over four months.

“I call on KFOR officials, EULEX (European Union mission) and Serb political

representatives to calm the situation immediately and to secure complete

freedom of movement strictly through dialogue and without violence,” Tadic said in a statement.

He called on local Serbs to prevent “extremists” in their ranks,

who “threaten the security of our citizens and international officials in Kosovo.

The lives of our citizens and representatives of international institutions must be saved at all costs,” he added.

Appealing for calm, Jahjaga called on Belgrade to “stop rendering support to criminal structures” in northern Kosovo and said “criminals who attacked KFOR soldiers should be discovered and punished”.

KFOR said in a statement late on Monday, 23 of its soldiers were injured in day-long clashes.

“The protestors could not be called as peaceful demonstrators at all, but as violent and criminal,” it said.

KFOR used teargas, rubber bullets and water cannons against protesting Serbs on Monday.

But it warned that “in life threatening situations like this KFOR soldiers will respond with all proportionate means”.

Despite cold, local Serbs spent the night manning barricades, warmed by bon fires,

as KFOR soldiers in full riot gear stood by. Local Serb leaders are due to meet with

KFOR representatives later today in an effort to resolve the crisis.

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Kosovo – Minister Hoxhaj participates in next un security council session

From: http://www.isria.com/pages/29_November_2011_170.php

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kosovo, Enver Hoxhaj traveled to New York to participate

in the next session of the United Nations Security Council which will be held on September 29. 

On this occasion, Minister Hoxhaj will give a presentation about positive developments

in the Republic of Kosovo’s important process of consolidating statehood and its economic and social transformation.

A part of Minister Hoxhaj’s speech will concentrate on the determination of the Kosovo Government

to establish rule of law in the state’s entire territory.

In this session, Minister Hoxhaj will denounce the violence inflicted on KFOR soldiers

by illegal parallel structures in the north. Minister Hoxhaj will ask UN member state representatives

to increase pressure on Serbia to fully dismantle these criminal structures, as a precondition

for stability and peace in the Balkans.

During his stay in New York, Minister Hoxhaj will meet with many representatives of member states

of the United Nations, as well as diplomats and public figures.

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Kosovo: Albania, Kosovo to merge consular services to cut bureaucracy

Tirana, 24 Oct. (AKI) - The Albanian government on approved an agreement to merge consular services abroad

with those of Kosovo in order to cut “bureaucratic costs”, the government said on its web site on Monday.

Kosovo where the majority of the population is Albanian declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which Belgrade opposes.

The independence has been recognized by more than 80 countries, including the United States and 22 out of 27 members

of the European Union.

“Albanians should feel the same way in Tirana and in Pristina,” Albanian prime minister Sali Berisha said last week.

Similar practices should be applied to other areas, like customs, culture and education to reduce costs

and to draw closer “two sister states,” he added.

“We have to strengthen cooperation within the same legal framework and practices in order to reduce bureaucratic barriers

between citizens of Albania and Kosovo,” Berisha said.

Serbian officials claim Kosovo independence was just the first step towards unification with Albania and

the creation of “Greater Albania”, which would incorporate ethnic Albanians living in Kosovo, Macedonia,

Montenegro and northern Greece.

Albanian and Kosovo officials have denied such intentions and the idea is opposed by the international community,

including big powers which recognized Kosovo, for fears it would destabilize the entire region.

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