In two plenary sessions, the Assembly of Kosovo approved most of the international agreements, including the military framework agreement with Turkey. The ratification of international agreements had been suspended for some time due to the lack of sufficient votes.
According to the law in Kosovo, international agreements can be ratified only with the votes of two-thirds of the deputies. According to the Government of Kosovo, the agreement with Turkey foresees cooperation, among other things, in peacekeeping, humanitarian and anti-terrorism operations. “This agreement foresees cooperation in the following areas: military training and education, industry and defense, exchange of military intelligence, military medicine, peacekeeping and humanitarian operations against terrorism and others”, said the Minister of Agriculture, Faton Peci, while justifying the agreement in the absence of the Minister of Defense, Ejup Macedonci.
Two of the international agreements did not receive the necessary support of the deputies during the plenary sessions of May 16: the Treaty between Kosovo and Denmark on the use of the correctional institution in Gjilan for the purpose of executing Danish sentences, as well as the Loan Agreement for the public finance and growth program economic between Kosovo and the OPEC Fund for International Development. With the support of MPs from opposition parties, the approval of, among other things, the Law on the ratification of “Amendment 3 of the Financial Agreement between the Republic of Kosovo and the European Union for the IPA 2015 program” was achieved.
Lawmakers also supported the agreement with the European Bank for the wastewater treatment project in Ferizaj. According to the Government of Kosovo, this agreement reaches the value of 20 million euros. Also, the Assembly approved the Law on the accession of Kosovo to the Convention on temporary importation. The MPs also approved the Law on the international agreement with the European Union in what is called the Single Market Program.
In the session of May 16, the International Agreement with the International Development Association was also approved. The opposition party, the Democratic Party of Kosovo announced on May 15 that it will vote on international agreements, just one day after the head of this party, Memli Krasniqi, held a meeting with Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
