AKR candidate for mayor of Pristina, Gëzim Mehmeti, during a meeting with residents of the neighborhood Kodra e Trimave, has pledged to resolve property disputes for more than 70 percent of properties in this neighborhood.

“In a meeting with the residents of this neighborhood, I vowed to resolve the issue of ownership. Residents live for years in their homes and are not legitimate owners of their property.

Based on the valid laws, with my proposal and the approval of the Assembly of Prishtina, all residents who have built their houses, the property will be given a symbolic amount of 1 euro and will enjoy the property right in the possession lists. “Such legal disputes have more than 70 percent of these properties”, Mehmeti wrote on Facebook.

He also promised that under his leadership, two new kindergartens will be built in this neighborhood.

The Municipality of Prishtina today signed an agreement with the US Embassy in Prishtina, for the use of municipal immovable property with an area of ​​8,340 square meters, for the construction of a new residence for the Ambassador of the United States of America (USA), in Prishtina .

The signing ceremony was attended by the Mayor of Prishtina, Shpend Ahmeti and the US Ambassador to Kosovo, Philip Kosnett.

After the signing of the agreement, President Shpend Ahmeti said that it is a pleasure to express once again the gratitude for everything that the United States of America has done for our country.

“With the new United States Embassy and Residence, we are showing what has been made clear by the United States years ago, that it is one of our closest partners and is here to stay. To stay with us, in this transition and to develop our state and we are grateful for that. I am also grateful to the Municipal Assembly and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs through which the request was addressed, so thank you once again. What I want to emphasize is that presidents and ambassadors come and go, she. It is a pleasure for us to express once again our gratitude for everything that remains for the citizens are the institutions and we must work to strengthen these, so I am happy that we were fortunate to be signatories to an agreement that has this purpose.

Meanwhile, His Excellency, the US Ambassador to Kosovo, Philip Kosnett said that today on behalf of the American people, he expresses his gratitude to President Ahmeti, the Municipal Assembly and the people of Pristina, who provided access to the land on which the new Residence will be built. Our Head of Mission.

“A modern mansion, which will be a meeting place for Kosovars of all communities to join their American friends to exchange ideas and work together to build a future of peace, justice, and prosperity for them. all people in Kosovo “, it is said in the announcement.

This real estate is offered for use to the US Embassy for 99 years after the agreement is signed.

He stated that the attack and yesterday’s stoning of the church of St. Petka in Kosovska Vitina were not isolated incidents, but that it was a series of ethnically motivated attacks on Serbs, their property and SOC temples in Kosovo and Metohija.

Petković emphasized that the incident in the village of Dubrava was “a drop that overflowed the glass” and that it was the fifth attack on the property of the Pumpalović family, and that the church of St. Petka in Kosovska Vitina was stoned on the same day.

“This is the eleventh attack on the temples and monasteries of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo and Metohija. After only a few hours, the latest attack on the family houses of Radoje and Milan Pumpalovic from Dubrava took place.”, said Petkovic.

He noted that many are “pretending to be naive” and asking why Serbs are not returning to Kosovo and Metohija, noting that Pristina has not provided and does not provide conditions for the return of Serbs to the southern province, and that the rate of return of displaced persons to Kosovo and Metohija is the lowest in the world.

Petkovic said that the second reason was that the Serbs who returned were intimidated and expelled by burning and breaking into their houses and stealing their property.

Tanjug / Tara Radovanović

He warned that these were not isolated incidents, as he usually represents the Kosovo police, but a series of ethnically motivated attacks on Serbs, their property and SOC temples.

Petković emphasized that such incidents should be stopped, stating that 11 temples and churches in Kosovo and Metohija have been broken into and attacked in the last month and a half, and added that incidents occur mainly during major holidays in order to further disturb the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija. .

He assessed that the policy of impunity by Pristina encourages Albanian extremists to continue attacking Serbs, their houses and temples, and that Albanian extremism directed against Serbs is further fueled by daily war-mongering policies from Pristina and speeches against Belgrade, the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, dialogue and community formation. Serbian municipalities.

Petković said that at today’s meeting, he informed the head of the OSCE Mission to Kosovo and Metohija, Michael Davenport, about the latest, but also all previous incidents in Kosovo and Metohija.

“The state reacts most strongly, we have sent official letters to other international missions and institutions, as well as to Brussels, because the attacks on the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija must finally stop.”, said Petković.

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The Committee on Legislation, Mandates, Immunities, Rules of Procedure of the Assembly has reviewed the annual report of the Kosovo Agency for Comparison and Verification of Property for 2020, where the evictions of property occupants were discussed.

The chairman of the committee, Ardian Rrustemi presented the agenda items, where the deputies stopped to discuss more about the third item on the agenda “Review of the annual report of the Kosovo Agency for Comparison and Verification of Property for 2020”, where the director Naser Shala reported about this report and the representatives of AKKVP.

“The mandate of the Agency is that it is known that there will be differences and inconsistencies in the entire work of the PRCA. We do not have any forecasts and how long a comparison of a document will take, but I think we will have a lot of work, once the Law is passed in the Assembly with the implementation of the documents and there is no deadline for how long this mandate of the agency will last “, said one of the representatives of the Agency.

Doarsa Kica-Xhelili, member from VV said that she is very unclear in the given report, and the evidence is not appropriate regarding the cases and the submission of requests within the execution of the decisions of the Agency.

“I do not understand the report, it is unclear how much I am reading and deciphering it, there are no additional details and clarifications either with the submission of requests or the execution of decisions and evictions of property occupants”, said Kica-Xhelili./EO

The White House is considering options to maximize the production and distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine to make it available worldwide at the lowest cost, including support for the proposed removal of intellectual property rights, but a decision does not is still taken, a spokeswoman said Tuesday.

“There are many different ways to do this. At the moment, it is a way, but we had to evaluate what is more reasonable, “said White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

She added that US officials are also considering whether it is more effective to increase existing vaccine production in the United States.

U.S. lawmakers and nonprofits are pressuring Joe Biden’s administration to support the temporary suspension of intellectual property rights in the production of COVID-19 vaccines to help poor countries tackle the pandemic as India and other countries occasionally fight big.

This means that after the ratification of this agreement in the signatory states, the competent authorities of one state will, at the request of another state, submit data on possible property or business of public officials in that country who are suspected of committing a crime or any kind of corruption.

In practice, for example, the Serbian Anti-Corruption Agency, which checks a public official, will be able to request information directly from colleagues in Montenegro about the property of that public official – whether he owns a job, business, property in Montenegro, and then the competent Agency of Montenegro shall submit this information to the Agency in Serbia.

This is the first agreement of this kind in the world, which was signed in the Palace of Serbia.

On that occasion, the Minister of Justice pointed out that with this agreement, Serbia has made a step forward in the fight against corruption, which is also the strategic goal of the Government of Serbia.

“We will remain steadfast in that fight, but for that we need the support of colleagues from the region and Europe, because corruption has no nationality and knows no borders,” Popovic emphasized.

The Montenegrin Minister emphasized that in addition to technical cooperation, this agreement also testifies to the wider cooperation of the three signatory states, and he hopes that other states from the region will sign it, with the wish that it also become pan-European.

“It is important that an effective step was achieved today in the fight against corruption, in this case by exchanging data, because the law is often circumvented by transferring property to other countries, especially to the countries of the region,” Leposavic said.

The head of the RAI secretariat, Vladan Joksimović, expressed satisfaction that the RAI initiative was finalized by the first agreement and that this issue was agreed at both the technical and political level.

“The champions of this process are Serbia, Montenegro and Northern Macedonia, which joined the agreement today. I hope that other countries in the region will join them soon, such as Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania, and then many European countries,” Joksimovic said.

The fight against illicit enrichment is expected to be among the top priorities of the new Kosovo government.

Former Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu says that as soon as the Kurti 2 Government is formed, they will proceed with the Law on Confiscation of Unjustifiable Property in the Assembly of Kosovo and for this she expects the support of the opposition.

But civil society representatives say the changes to the law can only be implemented after the vetting process in Kosovo is over.

Haxhiu says that this law aims to strengthen the legal package for confiscation of illegal property.

According to her, the idea is that through this new law the burden of proof is placed on the suspect even without committing a criminal offense.

“This legal package needs to be strengthened.

At the time when I was Minister of Justice we had worked quite hard on a concept paper, so the idea is to have a law where the burden of proof is placed on the suspect and where you do not necessarily have to commit a crime in order to then be convicted , then initiate the procedure of confiscation of property.

But if the institutions see that an official has assets inconsistent with the income he has then the procedure of justification of assets should start.

So that if an official fails to justify the property he has then it will be confiscated. I believe that in the circumstances we are going through as a country, where the obstacle to economic development is related to crime and corruption, the only way to prove that we have the fight against crime and corruption and not only internally to develop but that To see Kosovo differently from other countries that support Kosovo is undoubtedly the strengthening of the legal package, and on the other hand also the responsible institutions “, she said.

The member of the leadership of Lëvizja Vetëvendosje says that as soon as they come to the government, a working group will be created for this law and it will immediately proceed to the Assembly of Kosovo.

“A working group will be established immediately and I will address this draft law and further process it in the Assembly of Kosovo.

I very much wish that he receives the support of the Assembly of Kosovo and not only from the majority, from Vetëvendosje and those who will be in the coalition, but I am saying that it is important for the opposition to give its signals that it is really interested to contribute to addressing the legal package against organized crime and corruption “, declared Haxhiu.

The executive director of the Kosovo Institute of Justice (KLI), Ehat Miftaraj, says that Kosovo has a very advanced framework regarding the sequestration and confiscation of property acquired through criminal activity.

According to him, only after the vetting process could this LVV initiative be implemented.

“The part in confiscating property at this stage is only one campaign after another, but in practice it is almost unenforceable and unrealized.

Because in the first place this contradicts the Stabilization and Association Agreement that Kosovo has with the European Union.

The second point is that Kosovo has a fairly advanced legal framework in terms of confiscation and sequestration of property acquired through criminal offenses, and the third point is that Kosovo has always suffered from a lack of political will and fair law enforcement. , impartial and independent.

The way Mr. Kurti is proclaiming the confiscation of property means that the burden of proof is no longer on the institutions of justice, but on the citizen, and in this regard, if this law is approved tomorrow, it should be a cutting line that when it will start to be implemented.

In this regard, with a justice system which is extremely politically influential, which depends on interest groups, then without having a vetting and without cleaning this justice system, it is too early to start with such an initiative “, said Miftaraj .

But Florent Spahija from the Democratic Institute of Kosovo thinks differently.

According to him, the law that is being presented by Lëvizja Vetëvendosje is harsh, but with some small interventions it can become easily applicable.

“I consider that it is a law that is quite demanding and the civil society for a long time has asked to have such a law which would make them more active in terms of illegal property by the courts.

I am considering that the current law does not have a very big problem, but we have a problem with judges and prosecutors who think or try to take or confiscate property as little as possible.

So, if it were a law as promised by Lëvizja Vetëvendosje, I consider that it is a pretty strict law, but with a few small interventions it can be very good and could be applied very easily in Kosovo and succeed in this field, especially to illegal property “, said Spahija.