Lawyers connect with Special Court continuing EULEX mandate

Continued mandate of the EULEX mission in Kosovo is being assessed as liaison with the work of the Special Court, lawyers in the country assess.

According to them, since 2018, E ULEX has played a key role in protecting potential witnesses of the Special Court. As for transparency, lawyers criticise institutions, as their opinion has reported only through media.

Lawyer Tome Gashi tells Online Economy that mission EULEX is the largest mission of the European Union's rule of law, and its life expectancy is 15.

He says that until the Special Court exists, the EULEX mission will be present in Kosovo.

He also cites the arrests of KLA leaders who were arrested by EULEX.

“The continuation of EULEX's mandate in my prism is what conveys the work of the Special Court and I think that until we have the Special Court, we will also have EULEX's mission in Kosovo and this mission is the largest of the rule of law and the European Union that has been lasting for 15 years, while initially we have about 2 thousand members of EULEX as we now have several hundred and specifically what is for the European Union that connects with the work of the Special Court, these are the special units that make the arrests of KLA members sent to The Hague. So until we have the Special Court, we will also have EULEX mission”, Gashi says.

Although he does not comment on whether the continuation of this mission in Kosovo has been necessary, Gashi says the same have no mandate to be used except for links with the Special.

“As to whether it was necessary or not, I believe we should see what mandate there is and besides these elite police units that EULEX has in Kosovo and that they use on occasions that connect to the work of the Special Court in no other case can use because there is no executive mandate, while now their mandate is completely supervisory and advisory, and not that they can take certain actions themselves without the announcement of Kosovo's competent state bodies, but that I am still saying that their stronger connection with the work of the Special Court<> was expressed.

And the other lawyer, Ardian Bayraktari, says after 2018, E ULEX has played a role in protecting Special Court witnesses. The critics are thrown into the presidency, for according to him they have not shown the role he will have from now on.

“In the past, there is a separate part of the EULEX mission, separately in the matter of witness protection, but until now we don't know this because we don't know that this is a major lack of transparency that has characterised and is continuing to characterise this” process.

As for the ongoing mandate agreement, Bajraktari says that by 2018, E ULEX is behind largely executive role, while after 2018 it has gone through exchange paper on the part of Kosovo's president and representatives of the European Union for Enlargement.

Now public opinion has been announced through media which is not good for our institutions, separately for the President's Office for the fact that transparency is one of the basic principles that should be defined and accompanied by our institutions, yet under the assumption that the agreement has been such as the preliminary office of 2018 and 2018, I appreciate it is in line with the role behind it so far in this period, primarily in the perspective, monitoring and in the council, then it is in line with the responsibilities that the President of Republika<1> was expressed, Bajrak was expressed.