European integration recognisers say visa liberalisation hinges on fighting corruption

The issue of visa liberalisation is largely dependent on the unfulfilled criteria involved in combating crime and high-level corruption. Thus say European integration connoisseurs and former officials of the Supreme Court of Kosovo.

They say Kosovo has not witnessed progress in this regard. According to them, for this reason Kosovo's non-participation in EU Council of Ministers meetings is taking place.

After demarcation with Montenegro, European officials have consistently sought tangible results in fighting crime and corruption as a condition for visa liberalisation.

The chief of the European Union Office in Pristina, Natalia Apostova, has even posted it several times in public statements:

This path must be followed and this is a continuous process, this does not mean that certain cases are followed and then forgotten. It's a broader issue, it's about political meetings, it's about nepotism, with the financing of political parties, including the major cases we need to see their outcome and verdicts.

Even Epic Institute Executive Director Demush Shasha told Kosovo Radio that Kosovo officials' statements that responsibility lies with EU countries do not in any way contribute to the visa liberalisation issue:

There is therefore no basis for saying this on the part of institutions and not doing us any favors, because in the end, fighting crime and corruption is in our interest. The future government must do one thing, not mention dates and focus on one thing, uncharging the justice system from political influence, a seizure that should then ensure results in the fight against the high corruption that Kosovo faces, so that visa liberalisation can be turned into the agenda of the European Union”, he said.

Even international law connoisseur Africa Hoti speaks of two arguments that have held the visa liberalisation issue on hold:

The “Situate has been complicated after holding elections for the consolidation of European Union institutions, here a number of states have had their hesitations. The second argument relates to the lack of a clear vision and the inability of our institutions to send reports proving that we have not met the criteria only in a formal sense but also in the field. The situation has changed by presenting to the EU war cases of uncompromy and very serious that our institutions do against crime and corruption”, he said.

Even Fyzullah Hasani, former chairman of the Supreme Court, says there have been no tangible results in this area:

One of the obstacles to visa liberalisation has been just the weak results that have been in the way of combating crime and corruption, regardless of how we are promoted that we have fought, that we have done this and that... but the outcome of the issues when we deal with organised crime and corruption or those cases in a number of ways, when compared to the presence of this phenomenon, are quite insignificant and insignificant.

The visa liberalisation issue is not expected to be on schedule either at this year's latest meeting of the EU Council of Ministers, held on December 2nd and 3rd.