Kosovo Parliament fails to reach consensus on border deal with Montenegro

Prishtina, Kosovo, March 13 (Tirana Echo) – Kosovo’s ruling majority has postponed today’s parliamentary vote on a ‘demarcation’ border deal with Montenegro, after failing to reach the necessary quorum.

Despite earlier indications that majority parties PDK and AAK had secured enough votes for the Kosovo-Montenegro border agreement, leading opposition party Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) said this morning that the current parliament should be dissolved immediately after consensus is reached.

“The parliament should be dissolved as soon as the demarcation agreement has been voted, there’s no other way to re-establish normality in parliament”, – said LDK parliamentary chief Avdullah Hoti.

Parliament Speaker Kadri Veseli has indicated parliament could get convened tonight or tomorrow, as soon as the necessary quorum has been secured, despite firm resistance from opposition parties.

The European Union has said the border deal is a precondition for Kosovo’s citizens to travel freely within its visa-free travel zone known as Schengen.

Earlier in February European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker called on Kosovo’s parties to ratify a border demarcation deal with Montenegro and improve ties with Serbia, in order to advance in their European path.