The EU’s mission in Kosovo is ensnared by corruption claims
Nov 15th 2014 | From the print edition

KOSOVO is agog and Brussels horrified. Allegations have been made that a judge was bribed in a murder case and the European Union’s police and justice mission, Eulex, failed to investigate properly. Maria Bamieh, the former British investigator behind the allegations, accuses Eulex of fabricating evidence against her and dispensing “Milosevic-style justice”.

Federica Mogherini, the EU foreign-policy chief, has appointed an academic to investigate. Two members of the European Parliament have argued that, if the allegations are proven, it would be “disastrous”. Yet the investigation may result in embarrassment even if it fails to turn up evidence of corruption.

When Eulex, now 1,600 strong, was deployed in 2008, Kosovars were delighted. Many hoped it would stamp out organised crime and corruption. Local courts are inefficient, corrupt and prone to intimidation. Yet Eulex’s reputation has plummeted. People wanted the mission to arrest Kosovo’s political class, complains an insider. They never understood that it would need evidence that could stand up in court.

That may be a problem with the latest allegations. The judge denies the claims. The families of two men convicted of the murder complain that they did not secure their release. Perhaps intermediaries cheated them. Yet the climate of suspicion in Kosovo is such that, if this is what the investigator concludes, many will believe there has been a cover-up.

A nasty culture of bullying, intimidation and poisonous personal rivalries has weakened Eulex. Andrea Capussela, a former official who helped to oversee economic policy in Kosovo, says that Eulex has proved craven, passive and fearful of taking on Kosovo’s elite. In many cases, he adds, the mission’s errors not only protected leading members from prosecution but actually advanced their interests.

Unfortunately Ms Mogherini’s envoy will not look into these questions. Neither will he examine other glaring oddities. In 2009 Azem Syla, a political heavyweight close to Kosovo’s prime minister, was identified by a whistle-blower as responsible for several murders. Eulex is still investigating. By contrast, it has just indicted Oliver Ivanovic, a Kosovo Serb and leading force for ethnic reconciliation in the north, for war crimes. Ms Mogherini should instruct her envoy to look into Eulex as a whole, not just the latest scandal.

From the print edition: Europe