Wednesday 27th of August 2008 MEDIA HEADLINES IN ENGLISH
You’re listening to NEWS REPORT, a summary of today’s media, prepared by UNMIK ON AIR

Kosovo recognition process not frozen
EU Tells Serbia to Act on Mladic
And changing the borders of Europe by force

Kosovo
UNMIK will retain residual operation authority in police and justice areas, despite the fact the Mission will be reconfigured by the end of the year, media report. “It hasn’t been determined where those responsibilities will be exercised, because legal difficulties in drafting the UN umbrella have not yet been worked out,” a Kosovo paper quotes unnamed sources as saying.

EULEX chief Yves de Kermabon said he was willing to reach an agreement for technical cooperation with Serbian authorities. “I think there should be cooperation. I would like to have the opportunity to talk to Minister Goran Bogdanovic, but only at the technical level, with Serbian institutions, in order to establish cooperation,” de Kermabon said.

Kosovo’s recognition process is not frozen due to lack of more recognitions, Kosovo’s Prime Minister said, adding that Kosovo’s path towards Euro-Atlantic integration is open. “Kosovo has a clear vision and Kosovo’s path goes through Washington and Brussels, and not through suspicious addresses,” Hashim Thaçi said.

Kosovo’s President confirmed that Kosovo will not attend the UN General Assembly session in New York in September. “Kosovo is not a UN member state yet. We will work that we become a member soon,” Fatmir Sejdiu said, adding that he will stay in New York at the time and will try to lobby for Kosovo’s independence.

The Russian Foreign Minister said yesterday that Moscow’s decision to recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states has no parallel with Kosovo’s declaration of independence. The conflicts were halted in different ways - through the ruthless inhuman bombardment of Belgrade in the case of Kosovo and without punishing Tbilisi for its attacks on Sukhumi,’ Sergei Lavrov said.

Ministers in Kosovo’s government will not be dismissed due to their unsatisfactory performance, media report. “There is no urgent need to make any changes in the government,” Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuçi said, adding that “I think that there is stability both in the government and in the work of each minister.”

Kosovo’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs will soon receive strong technical support from the USAID in order to turn into an effective Foreign Affairs Ministry. Koha Ditore reports that a project of USAID will assist the Ministry in establishing diplomatic missions outside Kosovo and help the capacity building of two Ministry offices.

Montenegro has sent the strongest signals toward recognizing the declaration of Kosovo’s independence. Svetozar Marovic, deputy leader of the ruling Democratic Party of Socialists, said on Monday that Kosovo is a reality, adding that pressure was being applied on Podgorica officials to make a decision on Kosovo’s status.

Regional
The EU’s Rapporteur for Serbia says top war crimes fugitive Ratko Mladic will have to be at The Hague before any decision on Belgrade’s closer ties with the bloc is made. "What has been done with Karadzic is a big step forward,” Jelko Kacin said, adding that “the EU logically hopes that, with the help from the state, Mladic too will be in The Hague soon

Some 700 children and 130 adults have been taken ill in the Montenegrin capital amid a food poisoning scare. The Montenegrin Institute for Public Health said patients are suffering from vomiting, diarrhea and an increased temperature, with the supposed cause of the infection "most probably" a virus.

Romania’s Senate has decided to strip two high-ranking officials of their immunity from prosecution and to try them on corruption charges. State prosecutors say that Paul Pacuraru, the acting Minister of Labour, took bribes, while former Economy Minister Codrut Seres allegedly leaked commercial secrets related to privatisation.

International
The US President warned his Russian counterpart that his "irresponsible decision" to recognise the independence of the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia was exacerbating tensions in the region. Georgia said Russia was seeking to "change Europe's borders by force".

Thai riot police clashed briefly with anti-government protesters who stormed the Thai prime minister's office compound in Bangkok. The protesters numbering 30,000 earlier in the day say Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej is a proxy for ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 coup and is now in self-imposed exile.

A Sudanese airliner hijacked shortly after take-off from Nyala, in Darfur region, bound for Khartoum has landed in Libya. The hijackers have asked for fuel to fly the plane, with 95 people on board, to France.

Weather
Today will be sunny with a low tonight of 16 degrees; tomorrow will be overcast with occasional showers with a high of 26 degrees Celsius.