Prishtina, 15 May 2008
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Hashim Thaçi opened today the 20th meeting of the Government and updated his cabinet of ministers on the process of recognition of Kosovo’s independence.
Prime Minister Thaçi informed the Cabinet about the visit by the foreign affairs minister Mr. Skender Hyseni in several western countries for this purpose. Prime Minister Thaçi informed about the finalization of new draft laws from the Ahtisaari package as well as the actions by the Government through June 15 when the Constitution of Kosovo will go into effect.
Prime Minster Thaçi, referring to the donor’s conference said that serious preparations were being made sot that the conference is successful and useful for Kosovo. Prime Minister Thaçi indicated that the conference would be held this July.
“We are working in a comprehensive process involving all the Kosovar political spectrum to nurture a political and civic debate as well as to foster national unity. Today, at the invitation of the President, we will have a meeting with the Kosovar political spectrum” said Prime Minister Thaçi.
The Government further discussed and supported the initiative of Prime Minister Thaçi to recognize the years of service for educational workers for the period 1990-1999. The Government approved this initiative as a sign of appreciation for the work and sacrifice on the part of educational workers during that period.
The Government supported the initiative of the Ministry of Energy and Mines for the unified electronic database of Kosovo (GIS) This integrated electronic system would considerably lower the costs of setting up new databases, would considerably shorten the time required to update the data. At the same time the data would be accessible to all.
The Government of the Republic of Kosovo tasked the Ministry of Health (MH), Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MEST) and Ministry of Justice (MJ) to reconsider the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Health and the University of Prishtina to award residencies to the young teaching assistants. The Memorandum of Understanding was concluded on 23 November 2007 and its aim is to ensure the residencies for the teaching assistants at the University Hospital Clinic.
The Government took a decision at today’s meeting to establish the Kosovo Competition Commission. The Competition Law No. 2004/36 required the establishment of the Kosovo Competition Law as an independent body. The Government is required to develop procedures for the establishment of this professional commission whose task is to identify candidates for the Kosovo Competition Commission.
The Government also approved the draft law on the Kosovo Privatization Agency and submitted it to the Assembly for approval. As a draft law of special priority, the draft law on the Kosovo Privatization Agency will go through the procedures required to adopt the laws arising from the Ahtisaari package.
At the conclusion of the meeting, Prime Minister Thaçi urged the ministers of his Cabinet to pay serious attention to the requests of the citizens who met with the Prime Minister last week. The Prime Minister underlined that the Government of the Republic of Kosovo will remain committed to finding solutions to the problems which the citizens face and reemphasized his commitment and that of the Government for transparency in communicating openly with the citizens.