A special task force, formed as part of the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, has been investigating for 14 months now the corruption allegations concerning the EULEX top tier, reads the Belgrade-based daily Blic on Monday.

According to the daily, one of the contentious cases is related to the sale of the Serb property in KiM.

“The case was led by an American prosecutor who left the mission in protest, because Albanian judges who verified the documents and were involved in corruption were cleared of any responsibility and guilt thanks to EULEX's assistance,” reads Blic.

The falsification of evidence against Oliver Ivanovic show that international judges and prosecutors in Kosovo adopted the local way of behavior, instead to impose legal standards of the countries from which they came, writes Politika.

Eulex had suspended one of its staff members before media reports of alleged corruption among the mission's top officials were published, and it is a separate case, unrelated to a suspected disclosure of information, says Maja Kocijancic, spokesperson of EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Security Policy Catherine Ashton.

“One part of the Brussels agreement envisages that, in Serb-majority municipalities in Kosovo, Serbs must be employed in Courts and Prosecutors’ Offices in proportion with the ethnic composition of the population. That part of the agreement must be implemented as soon as possible,” said Marko Djuric, Director of the Serbian Government’s Office for Kosovo and Metohija.

Gazeta Blic’s editor-in-chief, Astrit Gashi, in an opinion piece says that organised crime and corruption in Kosovo are winning their final battle, that with EULEX which, until very recently, was the only hope for battling them. Unfortunately, remarks Gashi, the battle against EULEX is being won, not by the citizens of Kosovo but by organised crime and corruption. “EULEX was the only threat that the organised crime and corruption, that political and economic mafia in Kosovo, was afraid of”, says Gashi.

European Union rule of law mission, EULEX, was not able today to say anything regarding allegations of corruption. The new chief of mission, Gabriele Meucci, reiterated the mission’s line that “they do not comment on ongoing criminal investigations”.

A group of around twenty activists from Vetevendosje staged a symbolic action today in front of EULEX building in downtown Pristina. They showed up with fishing rods to ‘catch the big fish’ of corruption inside the mission. As baits, the activists attached copies of 500 euro bills which, they said, the mission’s prosecutors and judges are after.

The Mission of the European Union Rule of Law in Kosovo (EULEX) will be closed as soon as possible, reports last night Kosovo portal Gazeta Blic words of an unnamed German diplomat, adding that Germany in November will request a reduction of EULEX competencies. At the same time, another Kosovo portal, Gazeta Express writes that the prosecutor Maria Bamieh received threats that "cold blooded killer" would come for her, as well as that the threat came and from the EULEX.

Pristina Mayor Shpend Ahmeti writes on his Facebook account that the latest developments within the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) show that nationality does not make one immune to corruption. “Corruption is not a cultural phenomenon. Sayings such as ‘Balkans people are naturally corrupt’ are both inaccurate and unrighteous. We should urgently change the belief that others will fight corruption for us. 1. We need to fight corruption on our own. It is important to build a system and mechanisms that combat corruption and have people that are willing to do this.

The mandate of former EULEX chief, Bernd Borchardt, had been extended by the German Foreign Minister and the EU High Representative, Catherine Ashton,for another year in Kosovo as Berlin wanted to see concrete results in the fight against corruption. However, despite Borchardt’s great efforts, desirable results were not achieved. Furthermore, after major conflicts appeared inside the mission, especially amongst its prosecutors, Borchardt had informed Berlin and was instructed to leave the mission as quickly as possible despite the duration of his contract.