Kosovo prepares to fight organised crime

02/12/2008

The Kosovo government started work Monday on a strategy to fight organised crime, corruption and smuggling, which it calls a threat to its Euro-Atlantic vision.

By Besa Beqiri for Southeast European Times in Pristina -- 02/12/08

"We will not allow any part of [our] territory to be transformed into an oasis of corruption, organised crime and smuggling," Kosovo Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said. [File]

The Kosovo government underlined on Monday (December 1st) its commitment to fighting organised crime. At a Pristina conference titled "A Strategy for Fighting Corruption and Organised Crime", Prime Minister Hashim Thaci told attendees that the government wants to prepare Kosovo for its future within the EU and NATO but that such a goal could not "be achieved if organised crime is allowed to grow deep roots in Kosovo".

The government plans two paths: strengthening the legal foundations of an anti-corruption policy and implementing those measures in co-operation with civil society and international partners.

Thaci called for domestic unity to achieve this goal and advice from international partners. He pointed to EULEX, the EU's rule-of-law mission, as a force that would help strengthen Kosovo's sovereignty. EULEX's launch has been pushed back a week, to December 9th.

"We consider EULEX deployed over the whole territory of Kosovo a strong supporter in this battle" against corruption and organised crime, Thaci said. He warned Kosovo institutions will be very critical of EULEX if it fails to deploy in the Serb-dominated north.

The government can point to some concrete steps it has taken. The Anti-Corruption Agency has forwarded a number of cases to the public prosecutor, while intervening in conflict-of-interest cases. The government also approved a strategy for integrated management of the country's borders, a law on police last February and a plan to combat human trafficking.

Thaci, though, expressed concern over restive northern Kosovo, saying it is the duty of everyone, especially in the north, to support the government's anti-crime efforts. He warned, "Lack of the rule of law, a tolerance for illegal parallel structures and the flourishing of corruption and smuggling harm all Kosovo citizens. ... We will not allow any part of [our] territory to be transformed into an oasis of corruption, organised crime and smuggling."

Smuggling has been particularly pronounced in the north, where ethnic Serbs protesting Kosovo's proclamation of independence destroyed two customs posts in February. Ibrahim Rexhepi, a top economics reporter, wrote in Monday's daily Express that the rarity of privatisation in Serb enclaves shows "how difficult it is to gain control of the economy there".

In November, the European Commission (EC) issued a report containing criticism and suggestions for Kosovo. The EC pronounced Kosovo lacking in the "administrative capacity, means and determination" to implement its own anti-crime legislation and urged more vigour in fighting all forms of organised crime, including money laundering and drug trafficking.