Kosovo: Time to go straight

On March 10th a small earthquake shook Kosovo. A worse one would have toppled many of the country's new, shoddily constructed buildings. Worryingly for Kosovo's leaders, other parts of the national edifice are also coming under test-and they may not fare so well.

In February 2009, a year after Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, the mood among the new country's foreign supporters was upbeat. The Serb minority was staying put. Serious violence was negligible. The UN mission that had run Kosovo since 1999 was winding down fairly smoothly. But a year on, Kosovo's leaders are under unprecedented foreign attack for tolerating high-level corruption.

Kosovar newspapers report that foreign officials are concerned about a particular minister suspected of embezzling several million euros from the state. The papers have not named him, but their heavy hints make his identity all too clear. In quick succession Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign-policy chief, Stefan Fule, its enlargement commissioner, and Chris Dell, the American ambassador, have all called for action. On March 15th Mr Dell publicly urged Kosovars to demand justice from their leaders. No longer can they expect the international community to do this job for them, he said. Such words carry weight in a country where many regard the American ambassador as a viceroy.

Pieter Feith, the EU's man in Kosovo, has shown Hashim Thaci, the prime minister, evidence of the unnamed minister's corruption and demanded his removal. Mr Thaci is reported to have said that he found the material unconvincing. But Ilir Deda, head of Kipred, a think-tank, says that the issue has paralysed the government, which he calls "a joint criminal enterprise". Government officials say simply that they are taking the issue seriously.

Until now, says Engjellushe Morina, who heads the Kosovar Stability Initiative, a think-tank, outsiders were focused on ensuring stability. Now they are becoming more interested in the rule of law. Jakup Krasniqi, the speaker of parliament and a member of Mr Thaci's party, says that if there is any corruption in Kosovo, local institutions should deal with it.

But others bear responsibility too. The EU has a large police mission in Kosovo dedicated to combating crime and corruption, although it has not yet moved against any sensitive targets. In the past, says Beqe Cufaj, a prominent newspaper columnist, people overlooked high-level corruption because gaining independence mattered more. But now that has been attained, they are "seething". Corruption frightens off big foreign investors, who could create badly needed jobs, and that angers citizens too.

Fraud and embezzlement is only part of it. Elections for three local councils have had to be rerun amid cries of vote-rigging. And Kosovar Serbs are not immune from the disease. Unlike their brethren in the legitimate world, Serbian mafia bosses are happy to work with their Albanian counterparts. Perhaps worst of all for the Serbs is a recent internal investigation by the Serbian Orthodox Church which found that hundreds of thousands of euros in church custody, meant for the flock in Kosovo, had been stolen. In recent weeks two people have been arrested, and Bishop Artemije, the most senior Serbian cleric in Kosovo, has been temporarily suspended.

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