Pristina/Brussels, 10/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - At the beginning of February, several high-level representatives from Kosovo told EUROPE that they would like the EU mission on the rule of law in Kosovo (EULEX) to stop. The mission's mandate will come to an end in June 2016 and is currently being discussed by the EU member states.
Meeting in Pristina with a small number of journalists, including from EUROPE, the Kosovan minister for European integration, Bekim Çollaku, said he did not see “a forseeable future (for the mission) in Kosovo for very long”. EULEX has now been in Kosovo for eight years. “The EU should continue to help us in another way. In this way (Ed: with EULEX), we have no tangible result”, the leader of the Kosovan Parliament's committee for European integration, Teuta Sahatqija, stated. “We need the EU to be here (…) for it to help our own judicial system be more effective”, she added, saying that Kosovo had to do its work. Stating that the Europeans had had European judges come and had opened the door to the fight against corruption, Sahatqija said that they had “become those who didn't do their work”. She accused the United Nations UNMIK mission and EULEX of having imported corruption.
Allegations of corruption among three of the mission's managers (a mission supposed to fight against corruption - see EUROPE 11194), and EULEX's poor handling of these allegations (see EUROPE 11295) have greatly tarnished the misssion's image. However, it is not only corruption cases that tarnish its image. A high-level Kosovan official described EULEX members as men in uniform who drive big cars and like to frequent Pristina's bars and big restaurants. He therefore thought that Kosovo should look after its own problems and that EULEX had not done much.
“EULEX is not responsible for the anti-corruption fight - the Kosovan institutions are”, said head of the Kosovan anti-corruption agency, Hasan Preteni. “EULEX is there to help us, on a temporary basis, and not to do the work for us”, he added. He stated that his agency cooperated with EULEX well, that it was able to discuss various issues with EULEX and take account of its opinion, but that it did not have any deeper relationship with it. “EULEX was useful before. Now we need support, for experts to work closely with us - but it's up to us to do the work”, he added.
Still considerable corruption. Çollaku said he was “in total disagreement” with the perception of corruption in Kosovo, which “does not correspond to the reality on the ground”, and he said the problem was “exaggerated”. Preteni, however, said that there is a real problem in the country. The corruption in Kosovo does not affect the citizens on a daily basis - for example, there is no corruption in the health or police services - but corruption comes into the allocation of public procurement, Preteni stated. He added that 50% of the Kosovan budget goes to public procurement. Since 2007, the Kosovan anti-corruption agency has investigated just over 1,400 people, including five former deputy-ministers, mayors, judges and public prosecutors. Preteni also said that the judicial system was not working and that legislation that should be amended is not always done so. He mentioned the example of legislation on the conflict of interests, which has been shuttling between the government and parliament since 2013.
EU aware of the need to change EULEX's mandate. Questioned by EUROPE, a European source stated that a strategic review of the EULEX mandate was under way at the Council until mid-June. The European External Action Service (EEAS) and member states are thus assessing what has been implemented. “The mandate has not been fulfilled. There are still points that are open, where more must be done. We cannot continue just with an extension”, this source stated, adding that it was “quite likely” that there could be big changes to the mission's mandate and its format. It is the rule of law aspect of the EULEX mission that poses a problem. The review of the mandate is also part of the recommendations made by Jean-Paul Jacqué, whom High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini had asked to assess the implementation of the EULEX Kosovo mission “while highlighting the handling of the corruption allegations”. The mission has nevertheless published over 600 verdicts on criminal cases, including 400 on cases of corruption, organised crime, money laundering and human trafficking. The aspect of assisting implementation of the Serbia-Kosovo dialogue is, for its part, judged effective. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)