Without fighting corruption there is no visa liberalisation

Although fighting this phenomenon is seen as a continuing criterion, the European Union has demanded that institutions testify by concrete actions that they are fighting it.

Since May 2016, the European Commission had proposed to the Council of the European Union and the European Parliament, the lifting of visas for Kosovo citizens, and the putting Kosovo on the list of countries with free circulation in the Schengen area.

At that time, Kosovo had only two criteria to meet -- that of ratifying the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro and the criterion of fighting organised crime and corruption. Since then, the two criteria remain in fulfillment, before Kosovo gets the final approval of EU member states for visa liberalisation.

The results shown in fighting corruption and organised crime, according to the Kosovo Anti-Corruption Agency, are not satisfactory.

The director of this body, Shaip Havolli, told Radio Free Europe that fighting organised crime and corruption -- as criteria for visa liberalisation -- still cannot be considered fulfilled.

Right after the Demarque approval, the next condition is fighting corruption. So we cannot say that all these conditions are met to obtain visa liberalisation. Even based on the Corruption Perceptions Index, it is seen that there is significant progress in Kosovo, but still the main condition is fighting corruption by Kosovo law enforcement institutions. We have not done enough in fighting corruption”, Havolli said.

He says the agency, which he runs, has drafted an anti-corruption strategy that has been handed over to the Government and expects it to be approved as a national strategy very soon.

The international organisation Transparency International in the 2017 Corruption Perceptions Index ranked Kosovo 85th, with 39 points, meaning that it made easy progress in the fight against corruption, compared to the preliminary year it was in the 95th place with 36 points.

Parliamentary Commission for European Integration head Blerta Deliu-Codra, deputy of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, this party within the ruling coalition, told Radio Free Europe that Kosovo has noted easy progress in fighting organised crime and corruption.

“One of the conditions, apart from the border demarcation agreement with Montenegro, remains the main criteria for visa liberalisation for Kosovo citizens as well as fighting corruption and organised crime. It is not only the European Union criteria, it is the duty and obligation of institutions to meet one of the most important criteria of rule of law. I think there's been a positive walk over the last few years as far as this criteria are concerned, Deliu-Codra said.

Fighting organised crime and corruption in Kosovo, she adds, even international reports testify.

Deliu-Codra says efficiency has been observed even in the legal framework of the Ministry of Justice. She says there is a large number of laws that have come to the Kosovo Assembly and are directly linked to the agenda of European integration.

The challenge of institutions that need to have this permanent mechanism to deal with this phenomenon, which is highlighted in most states not only by those who are not part of the European Union, but also the states that have already become part of the European family”, says Deliu-Codra.

However, rule of law, legal order, market economy and fighting crime and corruption remain the criteria for any country that aspires to European integrations must meet.