Tuesday 16th September 2008
MEDIA HEADLINES IN ENGLISH
You’re listening to NEWS REPORT, a summary of
today’s media, prepared by UNMIK ON AIR
Kosovo leaders hope Serbia will fail,
EU keeps trade deal with Serbia "frozen", and
UN nuclear agency criticizes Iran
KOSOVO
Kosovo leaders are convinced that Serbia’s initiative against
independence at the International Court of Justice will fail. “Serbia
should think more about facilitating our neighbourly communication and
in this way make it easy for each other to integrate in the EU and NATO,”
Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi said yesterday.
British Ambassador to Serbia Stephen Wordsworth reiterated
his opposition to Belgrade’s initiative on the legality of a unilaterally
proclaimed independent Kosovo. The position of Great Britain is that
with such a focus it would “drift us apart,” and “not
on something we can do together,” he said.
The Government of Samoa is the 47th country to recognize
Kosovo, the Foreign Ministry announced yesterday. In a letter sent to
the Kosovo President, Samoa said it hoped Kosovo will gain even broader
recognitions that would help conclude the conflict of the 1990s.
UNMIK and Belgrade have agreed in principle to re-start the work in
northern Mitrovica court with UNMIK’s judges and prosecutors,
and include Albanian and Serb staff at a later stage. Media report that
the agreement was reached last week in the meeting between the UNMIK
chief and Serbian Minister for Kosovo.
EULEX chief Yves de Kermabon sees positive indications
from Belgrade to stop the political pressure against Serb members of
Kosovo Police who abandoned their jobs. “I cannot wait for them
(Serb officers) to join the Kosovo Police as soon as possible because
they will be relieved from political pressure,” De Kermabon said
in Vushtrri.
Kosovo opposition parties are asking the government
to explain how a politician, Behgjet Pacolli, was awarded the €14
million tender to renovate a public building in Pristina. The Alliance
for the Future of Kosovo, said the government must explain its tender
procedures and the winner, since another company was evaluated higher.
The Kosovo Government will spend the profit of the
Kosovo Post and Telecommunication company in capital investment. The
extra €250m will be spent in education, health and post service.
Earlier, the ICO criticized the Government for the bad management of
funds and lacking a plan on how to spend the money.
The chief of the European Commission Liaison Office
Lorenzo Davidi handed over the keys of two reconstructed Serbian Orthodox
buildings in Prizren. The buildings, the theological school and the
bishop’s seat, were destroyed in the March 2004 riots. The EU
invested €1.5 million in the effort.
REGIONAL
The EU has been unable to agree on implementing an interim trade deal
with Serbia, the bloc’s presidency has confirmed. Dutch Foreign
Minister Maxime Verhagen said that despite positive steps, Serbia has
not achieved full cooperation with the Hague Tribunal and that the unfreezing
of the Trade Agreement will depend on Belgrade's future actions.
A former Bosniak general, accused of commanding a
unit of “mujahedeen” in the Bosnian war, has been jailed
by The Hague for three years. Rasim Delic was found guilty for command
responsibility and sentenced for cruel treatment as a violation of the
laws of the customs of war.
Italian car parts manufacturer Orlandi, will build
a €10 million plant for the production of trucks and agricultural
machine appliances outside FYROM’s capital, Skopje. The deal envisages
a new plant with 120 employees in the first phase and introducing additional
production lines that would hire up to 500 workers in the second phase.
INTERNATIONAL
The International Atomic Energy Agency says it has not resolved questions
about a possible military dimension to Iran's nuclear programme. In
its latest report, the UN nuclear watchdog said it had failed to make
meaningful progress in assessing Iran's past nuclear activities. Iran
was also continuing to enrich uranium in defiance of a UN Security Council
resolution, it said.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said a visit
by NATO's key political decision-making body sent a strong signal of
support after its five-day war with Russia. Meanwhile, the EU plans
to provide Georgia with €500 million in aid to help resettle refugees
and rebuild roads, bridges and buildings destroyed in last month's war
with Russia.
The UN is pulling its staff out of Sri Lanka's rebel-held northern region
after being ensured safe passage by government troops and rebels. Other
aid agencies are also leaving as the government continues a major offensive
against the rebels in northern areas of the island.
WEATHER
Light rain today with a high of 12 degrees and a low tonight of 8 degrees;
light rain will fall again tomorrow and temperatures ranging from a
high of 10 to a low of 7 degrees Celsius.
And that’s all for today, thank you for listening.