New Kosovo report in process of drafting

She made these comments at the last meeting of the joint Co-ordination Board for Rule of Law, attended by Mission Chief Alexander Papadopoulos, Justice Minister Abelard Tahiri, Kosovo Judiciary Council Chairman Nehat Idrizi, leader of the KKP Blerim Isufaj.

Apostolova commended the other Kosovo authorities involved in continuing efforts to implement the European Reforms' agenda criteria, stressing that what remains to be done in the legislative field is the quick adoption of provisions dealing with the suspension and dismissal of accused public officials and convicted of corruption, respectively.

While the mission's chief, EULEX, introduced the Progress Report on the Compact Agreement, which included BPSL activities during July 2017-June 2018, and made the forwarding of progress made by relevant rule of law institutions in Kosovo in areas with adopted focus, respectively, that of police, customs, justice, and the implementation of dialogue.

Papadopoulos underlined the obvious progress made by local counterparts for empowering the rule of law in Kosovo, stressing the important role BPSL has played over these years as an effective mechanism to facilitate co-ordination between key domestic and EU actors regarding the most important issues, as well as serving as a catalyst for improvements in the most important areas. “Passed in June last year EULEX completed its executive mandate in Kosovo's justice system and is progressively changing its responsibilities for building capacities in other important areas of rule of law, now is the time and order for Kosovo authorities to take over full ownership of reform commitments to make their institutions more capable and sustainable,” said.

Papadopoulos encouraged Kosovo authorities to continue the good work done together so far under the BPPSL umbrella, especially in implementing BPSL leaderships for the Supreme Court's Special Chamber, the Kosovo Property Agency Ankest, the Institute of Law and War Crimes. Viewing the findings of the Progress Report on the Municipal Agreement, the Chief of Mission EULEX cited the increased performance and capacities of certain institutions of rule of law such as Kosovo Police, Kosovo Judiciary and Prosecutorial Councils, as well as the Civil Record Agency, which has in particular enabled the gradual withdrawal of EULEX's support and on the other hand increased support of alternative aid means.

While Justice Minister Abelard Tahiri has suggested that the 2020 Justice Agency has been necessary in order to address concrete issues identified in recent years within the justice system, with a focus on the judicial and prosecutorial system, which will absolutely influence the efficiency of the judicial system. Such a co-ordination mechanism will help make faster, more modern and more quality approaches in order to increase efficiency. In this way, this agenda will help the process of functional revision, creating space for discussions of major topics that require greater research and more detailed discussion within working groups”, he said.