The President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, sent a letter to the Constitutional Court of Kosovo in which he sought an opinion on the interpretation of Article 18 of the Constitution which stipulates that two-thirds of deputies have to approve any international agreement on issues like territory, peace, alliances, political and military topics, and borrowing abroad. Thaci asked the Constitutional Court to clarify if it considers an agreement signed by a president as valid, i.e., ratified by the Kosovo Parliament.
In the letter to the Constitutional Court, as an example of the international agreement that had not been ratified in the Parliament, Thaci used the exchange of the letters on the prolongation of the EULEX mandate which was enforced only by an exchange of letters between the President of Kosovo and the High Representative of the EU, without it having been ratified in the Parliament.
The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, reacted to this request made by the President:
Haradinaj said that “we have never questioned the President’s jurisdiction over the ratification of any international agreement.”
“However, the parliament’s jurisdiction should not be questioned either,” he said, adding that the changes of the border would never have his vote.
Apart from Haradinaj, some opposition parties have also voiced their dissatisfaction with the President’s initiative.
Political circles in Pristina as well as political analysts in Kosovo see this move by the President as an attempt to remove the Kosovo Parliament from the process of ratification of an eventual agreement on the normalization of relations with Serbia, especially if the deal includes ideas of territorial exchange or redefining or correction of borders which is largely opposed by not just the opposition, but some ruling parties as well.
Thaci has often stated in public that he supports the idea of the “correction of borders” and the merger of the “Presevo Valley” with Kosovo.
New judges of the Constitutional Court were appointed this August by President Thaci himself. On that occasion, one of the appointed judges was also Radomir Laban, who is on the Interpol wanted list. Laban was endorsed for this post by Srpska Lista.
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