Kosovo remains to re-Apply to ECAR, after guaranteeing political independence

Kosovo was warned by the European Register for High Education Quality Security office that it could be excluded, while Education Minister Shyqi Bytyqi had not taken any preventive measures.

The work of Kosovo's Agency for Accreditation has been suspended since 25 September 2017, on the day when the education minister, Fatmir Bytyqi, at the request of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, dismissed the board of the Agency of Discension.

While the decision of February 27th of this year was the final, it was also seen that the AKA is no longer part of ECAR.

This has been confirmed for KTV by European Network for High Education Security spokeswoman Annelies Traas.

According to her, the AKA can return to ECAR if it demonstrates institutional independence.

The Agency for Accreditation of Kosovo has been excluded since 25/9/2017. By that date, however, the AKA census was not revoted. The AKA can re-appreciate at any time and should demonstrate compliance with standards and guidelines for ensuring quality in the European space of higher education, particularly the 3.3 standard on independence, through a new independent external revision, in order to re-admission”, Annelies Traas, official Information in ECAR, said.

So far, Kosovo has not complained about the decision for exclusion, until Education Minister Shyqi Bytyqi says he will respect the legal deadline for complaining.

A bad decision for the Agency. We are left to do much work so that within the legal term of the complaint we can reach the annulment of this decision. We hope that the state quality council, with a very professional and all apolitical composition, will be ratified very quickly in parliament, so that the board will become functional”, the minister Bytyqi has said.

But ratification of new members of the Accreditation Board is expected to undermine the Vetevendosje Movement.

While publicist Veton Surroi's writer has written about two phenomena that, according to him, are occurring simultaneously in Kosovo.

Kosovo can break many laws, but not those of physics. One body cannot move in two directions (even contrary) at the same time. You can't ask for the same day to integrate into Europe and be expelled from Europe,” wrote Surroi on Facebook.

Responsible for this whole situation, the Student Movement for Equality, Study, Critics and Action makes the prime minister and the Ministry of Education.

As the disfellowshipped Agency, Kosovo remains to re-applicate for membership and be accepted if it meets the criteria for independence from politics.