Rohde: Politicians in Kosovo must put state first, then party

Following the 22nd failure of the Parliament's constitutionalisation for the time being, Rohde in a statement to Kosovo Press stressed that this situation has turned into a blockade that is negatively affecting Kosovo's perception from abroad.

Rohde said the lack of functional institutions not only affects domestic decision-making processes but also prevents Kosovo from taking advantage of international initiatives, such as the European Union's Growth Plan.

“The word describes, it's stuck, it's stopping. I said last week, it makes people indifferent and the last thing that needs a vibrant democracy is blockade. People have done their job on February 9th, and politicians must decide the state first, while party policy is second. So, I think it urgently needs Kosovo to form institutions. But, it is not my job to do the work of politicians, I can only observe, but I can tell you for sure that it does not increase Kosovo's image abroad. If you don't have a functioning institution, it's hard to do your homework because you don't have the power to make the difficult decisions that are now needed. Regardless of whether the EU Growth Plan money is pending because the Kosovo Assembly is not functional, so you cannot ratify the” agreement, Rohde said.

Germany's ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, says the blockade in the Assembly results from non-competitive compromise among political parties.

We just don't have the compromise needed between political parties... I'm not here to give you grades, I can say that politics needs compromise and that I'm the German ambassador, of course I can take my country into account. We had difficult elections, difficult results, but people compromised because they decided to the first state. We had elections two weeks after Kosovo and now have a functional parliament as of a month, and I hope that Kosovo follows the pace with us soon --”, potential Rohde.

On Tuesday, MPs failed to build the Assembly in the 22nd effort. Even in the next attempt, the Vetevendosje Movement in coalition with Guxo and Alternatives failed to form the Commission for the secret vote of the head parliament. /Periscopi/