Brussels-based correspondent Augustin Palokaj writes in his opinion piece that “it would have been much better if there was a situation where the opponents of the special court would be able to say that Kosovo doesn’t need the special court because the independent and sovereign Kosovo has its own independent and professional court that can address every serious case”. “It would have been equally good if our international friends, who sometimes threaten and sometimes give ‘guarantees’, would admit that their insistence for the special court comes because none of them do not trust EULEX and let alone Kosovo’s courts”. “The need for a special court, eight years after the independence of Kosovo and after a period when the European Union and other countries have spent several billions of Euros through their presence in Kosovo, proves that there hasn’t been as much progress as claimed by politicians. If we had so much progress in the development of democracy, the rule of law, independence of the judiciary, professionalism of the police, courts, and if we had development in society, then it would have been unnecessary to even discuss the need for a special court. Those that made these promises should secure the necessary votes [in parliament to pass the special court legislation] because they know best why they made such promises. Meanwhile, the international community will be doing Kosovo even greater harm with this court, if someone uses the court for political purposes”.