3 minutes agoThe timid end of EULEX '%s' in Kosovo shows fate of justice reform in Albania
Periskopi(8 years ago)
(8 years ago)EULEX, the mission of assistance to Kosovo institutions for establishing the rule of law in Kosovo funded by the EU, which operates in Kosovo since 2009, has come to an end. About three thousand EULEX officials were deployed in Kosovo to establish law enforcement in Kosovo and to [...]
EULEX, the mission of assistance to Kosovo institutions for establishing the rule of law in Kosovo funded by the EU, which operates in Kosovo since 2009, has come to an end.
About three thousand EULEX officials were deployed in Kosovo to establish law enforcement in Kosovo and to limit the corrupt political class. Despite the mission's “executive administration” by 2014, no major “Archbishop” was investigated or tried in Kosovo.
Moreover, EULEX was involved in several corruption scandals and abuse of office, which indicate “balconization” of the law enforcement mission. This prompted Andrea Capusela, a EULEX official, to seek to cut off EULEX mission with the reason that the current “Commission is undermining Kosovo and in an indirect way EU interest”.
Like Exit.al reported Last year, failure E ULEX to establish a functional law enforcement system in Kosovo, in contrast with its comprehensive mandate, has a considerable impact on reform of justice in Albania.
Four out of eight international experts at the International Monitoring Board (ONM), which is supposed to monitor the procedures of property institutions in the process of re-evaluating judges, prosecutors and supporters of justice system institutions, have in their past worked in EULEX. And the dual standards in decisions thus far indicate the first breach of the property system.
Furthermore, EULEX's failure, which now will no longer exist in any form, even after the EU has spent over 1 billion euros on it, has not impacted anything on the way the European Commission has faced the same problems in Albania: the capture of state and corruption.
If direct international intervention in Kosovo's justice system did not work, how could European Commission experts expect any positive results from a reform in justice run by the Albanian political class itself?
In fact, the signs that another EU legal assistance mission, EURAIUS, with a much more limited mandate than that of EULEX, obviously, has fallen prey to the Albanian political situation.
Through the EURALIU Steering Committee, in which most are made up of representatives of the Albanian government, E URAIUS has become an extension of the government rather than an independent mission under the authority and control of the European Commission.
Eulex and EURALIUS are symptoms of the same thinking disorder that seems to prevail in the Brussels offices: that is, they think a technocratic solution can be found for a substantial political problem like catching the state from organised crime.
Backing the Albanian and Kosovo government when at the same time you want to establish a fair judicial system with the help of the one government that will fight crime and corruption in the political class is like trying to turn the circle into a square. It is completely naive to think that the EURALIUS-backed Rama government will help the justice system in Albania clear itself.
French Eurodeput Tanja Fajon, in a speech delivered on July 19, 2016, at the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee, pointed to the exact problem, which neither the EU delegation nor the European Commission are able to address openly. She said:
“My information is that as long as the three main Albanian negotiators [ Edi Rama, Lulzim Basha, Ilir Meta] will not get full security for their immunity, when it comes to life, family and power -- it will be extremely difficult to achieve reform in justice. ”
The fact that reform in justice went forward, occupied by EURALIUS and the EU Delegation in Tirana tells us two things: either the European Commission offered security, informally, the ruling political class that it would not be affected by reforming the justice system; or reform in justice will be so insignificant and inefficient that the ruling political class has nothing to feel threatened by it.
The truth, however, EULEX's failure in Kosovo and the absolute lack of critical reflection on this fact on the part of the European Commission show that Albanian justice reform will be completed exactly the same way: undermining Albania and indirectly EU interests.
