Prishtina, April 4, 2018 – The President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, gathered today the National Anti-Corruption Council, discussing about the achievements and challenges in the first decade of Kosovo’s statehood.
President Thaçi has made a ten-year state balance, during which the Republic of Kosovo has undertaken a series of actions aimed at consolidating the rule of law and in the function of respecting the constitutional order.
He has stressed that during this period there have been challenges in the implementation of the legislation, and also in the advancement and strengthening of the rule of law mechanisms.
Nevertheless, according to President Thaçi, the Republic of Kosovo has adopted the most modern Constitution, has issued legal acts that prevent and sanction corruption offenses, has drafted policy documents, and concrete steps have been taken in strengthening the rule of law.
“The number of judges and prosecutors has gradually increased. The capacities of law enforcement institutions have been increased and the budget for the rule of law institutions has increased”, assessed President Thaçi.
The Head of State has said that during these ten years as a state, Kosovo has made progress in the fight against corruption and organized crime, but the possibility to do more to strengthen the rule of law and to work more professionally always exists.
“We know that the fight against organized crime and corruption is not easy, but we have to move forward. We must overcome the challenges with cooperation, professionalism and dedication of each of us”, he said.
The President during the discussion also mentioned the challenges that have been addressed from the meetings of the National Anti-Corruption Council.
“The institutional cooperation, the functioning of the rule of law mechanisms, the implementation of the legislation in force, the prosecution, investigation and adjudication of organized crime in general and corruption in particular, the application of sophisticated investigative methods and techniques, the increase in the number of concrete cases concluded with punitive verdicts, the harmonization of case-related statistics, the prescription of cases, the building of capacities of law enforcement institutions in specific fields, taking into account technology development, the strengthening of internal control of institutions, and the implementation of policy documents of this field has always been addressed as a challenge”, he added.
President Thaçi has said that some of these challenges have been addressed, while some have remained to be addressed and the respective institutions are undertaking the necessary actions.
“In the days to come, the process of reviewing the mandate and functioning of this Council will begin, in order to dynamise and advance its work and in order to guarantee the constitutional functioning of the institutions”, announced President Thaçi.
He has said that concrete steps have been made in strengthening the fight against organized crime and corruption, in meeting the last criterion for visa liberalization from the European Union.
“I now expect from all institutions to testify to this progress and this progress to be evaluated by European Union institutions and to move forward with visa liberalization”, he said.
President Thaçi has said that the Republic of Kosovo will continue to strengthen the fight against organized crime and corruption even further.