• COVID – 19: 468 new cases, 19 deaths (media)
• “No ‘hybrid’ solutions in Kosovo’s anti-corruption fight” (Balkan Insight)
• Osmani decrees law on economic recovery (media)
• Hoxhaj: Adoption of economic recovery package, a merit of PDK (media)
• Is it time to rethink Kosovo’s political system? (Prishtina Insight)
• Havolli: More than 65 senior officials are investigated for corruption (RFE)
• EP study on fake news and disinformation in the Western Balkans (media)
• U.S. Embassy: Domestic violence is a crime, don’t endure it, report it (media)

COVID – 19: 468 new cases, 19 deaths (media)

468 new cases of COVID – 19 and 19 deaths from the virus were recorded in the last 24 hours in Kosovo. 638 patients have recovered from the virus during this time. There are 14,663 active cases of COVID – 19 in Kosovo.

“No ‘hybrid’ solutions in Kosovo’s anti-corruption fight” (Balkan Insight)

Kosovo’s government will not rely on “hybrid creations” in its fight against organised crime and corruption, Deputy Prime Minister Driton Selmanaj has told BIRN, defending the much-criticised abolition of an anti-graft task force created 10 years ago by the chief rivals to Selmanaj’s ruling Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK.

The government has faced sharp criticism over its decision in October to get rid of the anti-corruption task force, not least from Kosovo’s chief backers in the European Union.

In an interview, Selmanaj backed the preparatory work started under the previous government – which also included the LDK – on a potential vetting process to weed out corrupt officials in the judiciary, a process Albania embarked upon several years ago under pressure from the United States and European Union.

But he stood by the abolition of the anti-corruption task force created in 2010 under the now-opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK.

In an October tweet, Germany’s ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, said the move “raises serious concerns about political will to tackle corruption issues effectively,” echoing a statement by the EU’s rule of law mission in Kosovo, EULEX. There was criticism too from Kosovo’s Anti-Corruption Agency and Kosovo civil society, which noted the “valuable contribution” made by the body.

“The only beneficiaries will be those corrupt politicians who, as reported in the media, have been investigated by this Task Force for various abuses,” Mexhide Demolli-Nimani, director of the NGO FOL, told Radio Free Europe in October.

But Selmanaj, who spent eight years as director of one of Kosovo’s largest non-governmental organisations, the Democratic Institute of Kosovo, KDI, said the unit was “unconstitutional”, politicised and ineffective.

“Should politics have such an instrument in hand?” he asked, citing the danger of “abuse, blackmail or threat.”

“We are taking decisions to move forward, so that we can use public money as much as possible to restore legality and constitutionality… to restore normalcy in this country,” Selmanaj told BIRN.

He dismissed concerns expressed by some that Kosovo’s Special Prosecution service may no longer have the specially trained police officers it needs to investigate high-level corruption, telling BIRN that the police would continue working on open cases and that the prosecution had the right to ask for police support.

Two decades since it broke away from Serbia in war and 12 years after it declared independence, Kosovo continues to struggle with the problem of graft and organised crime.

Selmanaj, whose portfolio as deputy premier includes the rule of law, said that since taking power in June this year, the government had set about reviewing all decisions in this field by previous governments, including the creation of the anti-corruption task force in cooperation with EULEX.

Under the decision, the government requested that the public prosecution create such a body, a step Selmanaj said was unconstitutional.

The task force, he told BIRN, was an example of “hybrid creations” to “camouflage the fight against organised crime and corruption in Kosovo.”

He argued that the task force was ineffective. “Somewhere we went wrong,” said Selmanaj, who himself has stirred controversy and triggered calls from civil society groups for his resignation over recent remarks he made about the search for people still missing from Kosovo’s 1998-99 war. BIRN asked Selmanaj about the row but he did not respond.

Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti of the LDK took power in June after the party brought down the previous government it was part of, led by the now-opposition Vetvendosje party, in a no-confidence motion and cobbled together a new majority in parliament.

Before its downfall, the previous government had pledged to draft a proposal for a vetting process in the justice system by December this year and a working group comprised of civil society experts drafted a preliminary document.

Selmanaj said a new working group, which also involves representatives of international organisations and Western embassies, would continue the work.

“It must be understood that in Kosovo everything has been built with international assistance so we have not built something completely ourselves,” he said. “We also said that we cannot choose good models without having representatives of the justice institutions such as the Prosecutorial and the Judiciary Councils at least”.

Selmanaj said those in charge of the interior ministry and police had been asked to “work closely with the international community” in building a police structure “in full compliance with the law on the Kosovo police.”

“We are taking good decisions for the future,” he said, “if not for us, then for the future of our children.”

Police and judicial bodies cannot be put in the hands of politicians, he said, “because the politicians are the ones who should be afraid when they are visited by the justice institutions.”

Osmani decrees law on economic recovery (media)

Kosovo Acting President Vjosa Osmani decreed on Saturday the economic recovery law which was adopted by members of the Kosovo Assembly on December 4. The law will start being implemented after it is published in the Official Gazette. An advisor to Osmani confirmed to Radio Free Europe on Sunday that the law has been decreed. “The law was decreed on Saturday,” he said.

The law on economic recovery includes amendments to several laws with the aim of helping recover the economy after the negative impact of the COVID – 19 pandemic. 72 MPs voted in favor of the law, while it was not supported by MPs of Vetevendosje Movement, the biggest opposition party. Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti said the law amounts to around €600 million.

Hoxhaj: Adoption of economic recovery package, a merit of PDK (media)

Enver Hoxhaj, Acting Leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), said in an interview with Reporteri that this party has the biggest merit for the adoption of the economic recovery package by the Kosovo Assembly.

Hoxhaj said the adoption of the package is the first decision in the responsibilities he has assumed as leader of the party and also gave credit to PDK parliamentary group chief Bedri Hamza and other experts from the party.

Hoxhaj said that the approach of the PDK was not to condition but rather improve the package which will come to the aid of the private sector and citizens. He also argued that following the insistence of the PDK, the value of the package was increased by €250 million.

Is it time to rethink Kosovo’s political system? (Prishtina Insight)

Opinion piece by Agron Demi, columnist and policy analyst at GAP Institute

For more than a decade, no Kosovo Government has completed its full mandate amid crises that have called into question the functioning of state level politics.

Early elections in the Municipality of Podujeva last Sunday once again proved that political strongholds in municipalities are a thing of the past. Over 50 percent of voters in Podujeva elected a new mayor, Shpejtim Bulliqi of Vetevendosje, ousting LDK from office for the first time since municipal elections began in Kosovo in 2001.

The electoral model for municipalities was changed in 2007, enabling citizens to vote directly for the mayor, which has led to the extinction of party strongholds in most municipalities and increased levels of accountability. The biggest change was seen at the 2013 local elections, when 25 out of 38 municipalities required a runoff election. By the end of the electoral process, power had changed hands in 55 percent of municipalities.

These changes in power at the local level and the abolition of political strongholds have in turn led to increased responsibility, accountability and transparency. According to periodic measurements by the GAP Institute, transparency regarding municipalities’ budget has increased significantly. KDI monitoring reports also show increased transparency in terms of public procurement, public discussions, and budget reporting, while National Audit Office reports have identified fewer violations.

Of course there are still major problems with local governments, but overall municipalities have proven to be more efficient in governance than state institutions.

The central level, meanwhile, is in crisis. The electoral and party system does not produce clear winners through which a parliamentary majority can be secured, while electoral promises are abandoned immediately after the election, as the winning party is often obliged to share responsibility with smaller parties and parties that were previously in power.

Read full piece at: https://bit.ly/37FGVfx

Havolli: More than 65 senior officials are investigated for corruption (RFE)

Shaip Havolli, head of Kosovo’s Anti-Corruption Agency, said in an interview for the news website that more than 65 senior officials and former officials of Kosovo’s institutions are suspected and being investigated for corruption. Havolli said the suspects include deputy Prime Ministers, ministers and deputy ministers, mayors of municipalities, members of managing councils and members of boards.

Havolli said the lack of political readiness is affecting the fight against corruption. He added that the agency comes across different corruption cases, from minor cases of employment and to the highest cases of abuse of official duty.

EP study on fake news and disinformation in the Western Balkans (media)

Most news websites cover a study published by the European Parliament titled “Mapping Fake News and Disinformation in the Western Balkans and Identifying Ways to Effectively Counter Them”. The study, which was requested by the European Parliament Committee on Foreign Affairs, notes that “disinformation is an endemic and ubiquitous part of politics throughout the Western Balkans, without exception. A mapping of the disinformation and counter-disinformation landscapes in the region in the period from 2018 through 2020 reveals three key disinformation challenges: external challenges to EU credibility; disinformation related to the COVID-19 pandemic; and the impact of disinformation on elections and referenda. While foreign actors feature prominently – chiefly Russia, but also China, Turkey, and other countries in and near the region – the bulk of disinformation in the Western Balkans is produced and disseminated by domestic actors for domestic purposes. Further, disinformation (and information disorder more broadly) is a symptom of social and political disorder, rather than the cause. As a result, the European Union should focus on the role that it can play in bolstering the quality of democracy and governance in the Western Balkans, as the most powerful potential bulwark against disinformation”.

Read the full study at: https://bit.ly/33PiR8y

U.S. Embassy: Domestic violence is a crime, don’t endure it, report it (media)

The United States Embassy in Kosovo said in a Twitter post on Sunday that domestic violence is a crime and that people must report it. “Domestic violence is a crime. Don’t endure it; Report it. Call the @Kosovo_Police at 192 or Victims Advocates at 0800 11 112 if you suffer physical, psychological, or economic abuse or ill treatment. Difficulty contacting these #s? Call @KWN_Rrggk 038 245 850 or info@womensnetwork.org,” the tweet notes.