Kosovo parliament criticised by OSCE

11/08/2008

PRISTINA, Kosovo -- The OSCE has criticised Kosovo's lawmakers for failing to respect parliamentary regulations and require government input. In its evaluation of parliament's performance from April through June, an OSCE report published on Sunday (August 10th) criticises the fact that government members failed to attend regular sessions and that committee meetings were held without required quorums. The OSCE urged parliament to exercise its authority and insist cabinet members are at sessions to answer questions on key issues.

In other news, former EU special envoy to Kosovo Wolfgang Petritsch is suggesting that the model of Brcko, in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), could be used in Kosovo to temporarily resolve the Mitrovica issue. "There should be a direct dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina. There are so many institutions that have a legitimate right to mediate and find an identified solution," Petritsch told the BBC on Monday. (Express, Koha Ditore - 11/08/08; Kosova Sot, Koha Ditore, Express, BBC - 10/08/08)