Kosovo Slammed Over ‘Weak’ Anti-Corruption Tactics

“The fight against corruption appears to be weak and the number of convictions remains low,” the Kosovar Institute for Policy, Research and Development (KIPRED) said in a new report.Kosovo’s parliament adopted a new anti-corruption strategy and action plan for 2013-17 in February, but it has been criticised by Brussels, which is also demanding action to tackle graft. In its latest progress report, the EU stressed the need for Kosovo “to provide concrete evidence of results in fighting organised crime and corruption as a matter of priority, and strengthen legislation and its implementation”. KIPRED however described the results achieved so far as “unsatisfactory”. The EU rule-of-law mission in Kosovo, EULEX, claims it has achieved “impressive results” in fighting organised crime and corruption, having announced more than 300 verdicts in such cases. But KIPRED claimed that EULEX had intentionally sought “to avoid high-level corruption cases for the price of ensuring political stability” despite credible evidence. Investigations of corruption in government could also be “inconvenient for the EU, since a stable government system is needed for the process of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia”, the NGO said. In its latest annual Corruption Perception Index, watchdog organisation Transparency International placed Kosovo 111th out of 176 countries worldwide. KIPRED said that Kosovo should learn lessons in fighting corruption from new EU member Croatia. It urged the authorities to put more money into the Kosovo Special Prosecution, the main institution responsible for fighting high-level corruption and organised crime.“The government of Kosovo should double the funds for the Kosovo Special Prosecution to 1,120,000 euro [from the current 593,000 euro] based on Croatia’s model of using 0.62 euro cents per capita on anti-corruption and the fight against organised crime,” KIPRED said.