The agreement reached Tuesday (25 August) between Serbia and Kosovo lifted the main obstacle to opening membership negotiations between Serbia and the EU. But no formal decision will be taken soon. https://euobserver.com/enlargement/130008  

Transparency International, a leading NGO, has accused EU law chiefs in Kosovo of “intimidation” of potential whistleblowers. It spoke out on Tuesday (12 August) on the case of Maria Bamieh, a British prosecutor, who used to work for Eulex, the EU’s rule of law mission in Kosovo - the biggest and most expensive EU operation of its kind.

https://euobserver.com/institutional/129879

Today @ 09:30 EU and Kosovo corruption: Scratching the surface? MEPs ask tough questions on EU mission in Kosovo By Andrew Rettman BRUSSELS - The EU Ombudsman has opened a fresh enquiry into the EU's handling of corruption allegations at Eulex, the EU’s rule of law mission in Kosovo. Emily O’Reilly, who heads the watchdog, notified Patrick Child, the top official in the European External Action Service (EEAS), which runs Eulex, about her “own-initiative” investigation in a letter last Friday (14 November). Citing press articles on the furore, she said “there are doubts” as to whether “EEA

11.11.14 @ 15:57 By Andrew Rettman BRUSSELS - The EU has asked a 72-year old French academic to look at the recent corruption allegations against Eulex, its rule of law mission in Kosovo. But former EU officials are asking bigger questions, like: How come Eulex prosecutors failed to convict a single high-level suspect in the past five years? Europe’s new foreign relations chief, Federica Mogherini, said on Monday (10 November) that Jean Paul Jacque, who teaches law at the University of Strasbourg in France and the College of Europe in Belgium, will “review” the corruption affair. He wil

06.11.14 @ 11:38 By Andrew Rettman BRUSSELS - Two senior MEPs have, in a letter to the EU foreign service, asked tough questions on corruption allegations against Eulex, the European rule of law mission in Kosovo. The letter - sent to foreign service chief Federica Mogherini on Wednesday (5 November) - says the European Parliament was “utterly shocked” by the revelations, first published in Kosovo daily Koha Ditore last week. “If the case had not appeared in the press when would we have found out?” it says. “If the allegations were to be confirmed, it would be a disastrous situation” fo

Today @ 09:30 By Andrew Rettman BRUSSELS - Two senior EU officials have annoyed MEPs by refusing to give details on the corruption scandal in Eulex, the EU’s rule of law mission in Kosovo. Fernando Gentilini, the EU foreign service’s top manager on the Western Balkans, and Kenneth Deanne, a Brit who runs its civilian missions, faced questions in the European Parliament on Monday (3 November). They insisted on meeting the foreign affairs committee “in camera” to exclude press. But despite the veil of secrecy, they declined to comment on details of the corruption allegations on grounds there

30.10.14 @ 19:27 By Andrew Rettman BRUSSELS - The EU’s rule of law mission in Kosovo, Eulex, is fighting to defend its credibility after allegations of bribe-taking and attempts to gag press. Eulex’ head, Gabriele Meucci, told reporters in Pristina on Thursday (30 October) his staff are trying to “make Kosovo a better place for its people and their children … they deserve to do their work and go home at night to their families free from the suspicion of corruption”. He noted he has “zero tolerance” for graft and that if Eulex spots a problem “we do not sit and wait, we react”. He added it

By Andrew Rettman and Ekrem Krasniqi BRUSSELS and PRISTINA - EU efforts to shed light on allegations of organ trafficking in Kosovo risk being delayed by a power struggle in Pristina. The plan is to create a new court in The Hague in early 2015 on the model of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. It will try suspects on evidence collected by the Special Investigative Task Force (SITF), a Brussels-based unit of Eulex, the European rule of law mission in Kosovo. The allegations of organ trafficking first came out in a report by Swiss senator Dick Marty in 2010. Mar