"State savings" jeopardize the training of soldiers and police officers

The government limits salaries, Lieutenant Hoxha is forced to cover his own expenses in Dubai

Safet Hoxha, commander of the Suhareka Police Station, earlier this year, attended a training course on innovation and leadership worth around 100 thousand euros at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

This opportunity was given to him at zero financial cost to him and the state of Kosovo.

The invitation was made last year by the Dubai Police Academy, for Kosovo to participate among 39 countries with 59 participants.

"The training lasted exactly 4 months, the value is very great for me, it was a good experience and academic and professional growth. For example, there we dealt a lot with the issue of artificial intelligence, how artificial intelligence works in cities, how it is applied exclusively in the Police, during the training they also contracted other private companies for a lecture or two, because in the Arab countries they are building several cities, which they are calling smart cities. For example, in Saudi Arabia a city called The Line is being built, somewhere 170 km long and about 60-70 meters wide, so a smart city, and now the designers and contractors of that construction have come to us for a day, because they have asked us for ideas on how to organize security", says Safet Hoxha.

To attend this training, he underwent a competition and the selection was made by the Dubai Police Academy.

This training, which lasted four months, included academic, operational and physical components.

Finally, together with colleagues, other police officers from Europe have finalized a scientific paper on the use of artificial intelligence to increase security at airports, which has already found application at Dubai Airport.

"We have taken from different directions, for example, we have read COVIDIT studies, how people who are sick are detected, there are detectors that measure body temperature even when it is above normal temperature and alarm. One of them we have taken is that if someone comes in, they stop them, and if it is an infectious disease, they isolate them, but this is done by machinery, computers, cameras, not by people, people are only alerted by the system. Part of security detection is abandoned suitcases, the cameras there alert the personnel to abandoned suitcases. We had a problem with weapons, when we put them in the system, we had trouble with the police because it detected police weapons, then we adjusted the system with algorithms through students who have studied at RIT so that people who are in uniform will not be alerted, not to alert those people but to civilians who have similar weapons, we have used these combinations to regulate security at the airport, to detect people," he added.

However, over the course of four months, in addition to the academic and emotional challenge of staying away from his family, Hoxha faced another challenge.

A month after staying in Dubai, which is among the most expensive cities in the world, his salary stopped.

A daily allowance is an amount provided by the state, in order for a state official to cover necessary expenses other than those covered by the hotel where he/she is staying, or the institution where he/she is training.

"Yes, I was informed that such a regulation exists. But there was also another contract there with the Dubai Police which states that small or out-of-pocket expenses are covered by the sending country. I had no idea what the prices are like in Dubai and when I went I saw that it is not sufficient and it is problematic for someone to face such a long period of time there financially," said Hoxha.

Therefore, two months after completing the training, Hoxha, who at the time was a lieutenant in the Regional Investigation Unit in Prizren, considered the possibility of interrupting it and returning to Kosovo.

"Journalist: And after a month, the interruption of the training was discussed by you, considering the situation?"
Hoxha: Actually, after a month, after two months I looked at it as an option and I discussed it with my superiors that this regulation is problematic and difficult to deal with and it is not enough to deal with four months of staying there, there is 10 times more there, you could have dealt with it if you were to stay there like in prison, with 4 months there and with only you inside, not going out for a minute. If you went out, it was a cost. But even inside there was a cost, because it was a hot place, hygiene was a problem, leaving clothes was a problem, you had to do it with your own money and that had a cost, I was forced to do it twice a week, everything works there online, you call the company, come pick it up, leave it, return the payments, get it online. I saw that it was pretty, and I discussed with them and my staff that maybe it would be better to go back or find a way to finance it because with this amount I can't deal with it "

But, the solution was not found.

The Kosovo Police had requested a response from the legal office, to consider the possibility of covering the salary in some other form.

However, the response was that no expenses could be covered, as any other funding would be in conflict with the regulation issued by the Prime Minister, the Government, which has been signed by Prime Minister Kurti.

"The opinion is that "No agreement should be accepted and signed if it is in conflict with applicable laws and the QRK regulation number 06/2023 on compensation for official travel and representation expenses, article 6 paragraph 6 which determines that, regardless of the adjustments for invoices, this regulation does not cover official travel expenses for a period longer than one month", said Kosovo Police Major Avdi Berisha.

Kosovo provoked a diplomatic incident in Dubai, due to lack of salaries for police training

The interruption of training could not be ended so easily.

Upon notifying the Dubai Police Academy that he wanted to discontinue training due to lack of financial resources, Hoxha was invited to a meeting.

Representatives of the emir, i.e. the representative of the ruler of Dubai, were also part of this meeting.

Discontinuing training could lead to a diplomatic incident.

"I also discussed this issue with the Dubai Police, and they were a little stricter on this, if I interrupted the training it would become a diplomatic incident, don't call it an incident, in the contract they had it that in case it was not fulfilled they had a court that deals with these and the service would be forced to pay them for the time they were there, and the cost of staying there in this training was very high, around 100 thousand dollars per person, so the expenses that Dubai made for these participants were worth 100 thousand dollars per person. Now when I considered the option to interrupt the training and return it was around 50 thousand and I knew that Kosovo could not pay it and face it in international court instances because that was what was in the contract, and they said we will deal with the embassy now. A participant on the first day did not comply with some rules and was excluded from the training, I would say the next day "The training they had did not adhere to their rules, and the ambassador was summoned to the meeting. So diplomatic relations would be slightly damaged if I interrupted it."

To avoid a serious problem, Hoxha decided to continue his training, seeking financial support from his family.

All this, despite the fact that above all he was a representative of the state of Kosovo.

And in the end, the knowledge he would gain would be put to the service of the interests of the Kosovo Police.

"Hoxha: The host country in this case, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, covered the costs of travel, food, housing, training materials, and another uniform, but there was no other obligation, but there you had to live a life, you had to go out, the moment you go out a bottle of water costs 2 euros,

Journalist: Did you have to cut your hair?

Hoxha: Yes, of course, and the price is staggering, the price is staggering, it's 10 times higher than here, I had to cover these myself.

Journalist: And did you have the support of your family to cover your expenses in Dubai where you were actually a representative of the state of Kosovo?

Hoxha: Yes, of course I had great support from my family, fortunately we are doing well, we are not doing so badly, but I really have financial obligations to complete a training that is an agreement between two countries, in this case between the United Arab Emirates and Kosovo.

Unlike Hoxha, the training was interrupted in 2024 by the police officer Atëdhe Kashtanjeva.

When contacted by phone, Kashtanjeva refused to provide information, asking whether his training had been interrupted due to salary, or if there was another reason.

"Journalist: Why did you return? Was the problem that your salary was not covered for a month or is there another reason?"
Police Officer Kashtanjeva: Who are you contacting, my honor?
Journalist: Jom Alberta Hashani, journalist from the show "Oath for Justice".
Policewoman Kashtanjeva: "Oh, no, I can't give you the honorable ones, I'm sorry."

After Kashtanjeva, who had interrupted training in 2024, in 2025 Hoxha was becoming the second to bring this into question.

For this reason, according to Hoxha, the situation had become more serious.

Hoxha explains that the most vocal in this discussion was the emir's representative.

".. among others there was also a representative of the emir, because there the state functions in this form, in addition to the laws in force, there are also customary norms, and the representative of the emir was a little more aggressive, they highly value social relations with a certain state or person. For them, it is above those that are foreseen by law, for example, if he decides to live here, expel the embassy, ​​he is expelled. I mean, they have customary norms, the social order there is different from what we are used to, even though decisions and technology are developed, customary norms still prevail over legal ones", explained Hoxha.

Ambassador Hamiti was the only one absent among the 74 ambassadors at the Dubai Police ceremony.

In addition to the ongoing problems with the participating police officers for two years, according to Hoxha, another fact also contributed to this deterioration of the situation.

Kosovo's Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, Xhabir Hamiti, had not participated in any of the activities organized within this training for four months.

In organizing the opening of the training, in addition to the ambassadors of the 39 participating countries, Dubai Police also invited the ambassadors of 35 other non-participating countries.

However, according to Hoxha, the only empty chair with the flag on it was that of Ambassador Hamiti.

"Now they tried to make themselves known, as the best police in the world, it's normal that they gave this training a lot of pomp and circumstance and in the first week of the training they had a kind of meeting with diplomats, meaning they invited the ambassadors of all the countries, even the ambassadors of the countries that had participants there, if I'm not mistaken there were also 35 ambassadors who didn't have any participants there to present the program that we were going to do. The ambassador of Kosovo was unfortunately not there and they felt a little bad, because for us who were participants there, the ambassadors of the countries that had participants had reserved seats and the flag in front and there was a little bad feeling because we didn't have a representative."

"Oath for Justice" contacted Ambassador Hamiti by phone.

He said he had not received any invitations to the Dubai Police Academy events, and had no knowledge of the two training courses held in 2024 and 2025.

"Journalist: Did you have an invitation?"
Ambassador Hamiti: no, no, I didn't get an invitation, I didn't participate. Of course it went through the Emirates embassy in Podgorica. I didn't get an invitation, nor did I participate.
Journalist: So you're saying that you had no knowledge at all about these two trainings that were held neither last year nor this year?
Ambassador Hamiti: No, no, we as an embassy have not been informed."

"The Oath for Justice" has contacted Dubai Police via email to receive a response regarding the invitation addressed to Ambassador Hamiti.

However, they have not responded to questions addressed via email.

Kosovo Police was not invited to the Dubai Police Academy training this year

However, the story does not end there. After discussions about the interruption of training by members of the Kosovo police as a result of the inability to cover the costs themselves, it seems that this has influenced Kosovo not to be invited to participate in the training that will be organized for 2026.

The application deadline was September 30, and in the written response received, Major Berisha announced that they had not received an invitation.

"Oath for Justice" has also asked the Dubai Police about this.

However, they have not answered these questions either.

While the per diems have gone away, invitations from friendly countries for police officers to participate in long-term training have increased.

Two long training sessions were held a year before the regulation.

While in 2023, when the regulation came into force, the number of trainings held over one month increased to 4, in 2024, 4 trainings over one month, and in 2025 5 trainings over one month.

According to the Police response, 3 of them were covered by their own revenues.

This situation, according to Major Berisha, has been reflected in the trainings carried out.

"I cannot deny this, but for the fact that if a member of the organization is nominated and approved to attend a training abroad, of course the aspect of covering expenses outside of this period will be challenging and of course this will then call into question perhaps the realization of that training."

The regulation on daily wages is causing a situation of inequality in the attendance of trainings

If the police officer is financially well-off, he or she can attend a long training course of over a month abroad, as the Kosovo Police does not prohibit the possibility of attending them with self-financing.

However, this regulation imposed by Prime Minister Kurti has caused a situation of inequality.

"Journalist: However, this doesn't stop members from going to these trainings?

Berisha: The Kosovo Police does not prohibit a member from attending training if it is considered that the training is of particular importance, but I said earlier that we will not stop queuing to seek the possibility of finding a legal aspect for these trainings, the legal possibility for these to be realized in the future with full coverage, because often, despite the cost, it is important to achieve the intended objective, especially when we talk about trainings that the police must have, which must be of an international character and extremely important for security in Kosovo.

Journalist: However, we are in a situation where these trainings can only be attended by a police officer who is financially well-off enough to cover the expenses themselves after a month, right?

Berisha: I believe that we should officially define this issue and we are working maximally on this issue because the legislators have foreseen such an issue that trainings cannot have a duration longer than one month, therefore such a regulation exists, however we are seeing cases and needs when partners request that we have agreements for longer trainings. We are in a position to see the legal possibilities on how to implement it.

Journalist: Since we are in this situation where they are not denied the right to attend training, but as a result they are required to financially support themselves to cover the expenses. Do you think this is discriminatory for members of the Kosovo Police?

Berisha: I believe that we will take maximum care to ensure that members are sent within the norms set by law and that they are also adapted to the training.

Journalist: Have you received a response from Minister Svecla or Prime Minister Kurti so far so that this can be changed, or has it not reached them?

Berisha: From my position, I do not have this answer, much more in-depth information can be provided, but these are initiatives that require longer and broader legislative change.

Kosovo Security Force soldiers are also facing this situation.

At zero cost to the state of Kosovo, various friendly countries enable them to grow academically and professionally.

"We have agreements with friendly countries and it is the will of the countries to cover all our expenses, military academies and other segments of the military countries cover all expenses. We help with salaries and where there is a need, but this is done thanks to the agreements we have with other countries that help with training and many others that we have from partner countries."

The Kosovo Security Force, through publications on the social network "Facebook", has continuously boasted of the successful completion of various months of training by KSF soldiers.

"Syla: I am pleased that friendly countries, in an agreement we have created, have expressed their willingness to have a large number of our soldiers present to be trained in countries that have more prestigious academies and have higher conditions and standards with which our soldiers are equipped and bring those experiences here," said Deputy Minister Syla.

Ministry proud of soldiers, but after a month their salaries are covered by friendly countries

However, despite Kosovo's only cost being wages, they too have faced lack of funding.

On July 11 of this year, the KSF announced that 3 of its soldiers have completed helicopter refresher training at the Land Aviation School in Isparta, Turkey.

"Syla: According to our projects and development phases, we also focus on increasing the capacities of military aviation. In this regard, we have more developed capacities in the field of piloting, namely helicopters, and in this regard we have educated a number of officers. In particular, we have an agreement with Turkey, which has expressed its willingness to have a considerable number of our military personnel in the field of aviation, specifically in piloting, in its academies," said Deputy Minister of Defense, Shembi Syla.

Sources from the "Oath for Justice" have indicated that the same salaries after the first month were given to them by Turkey.

This has not been confirmed by Deputy Minister of Defense, Shemsi Syla.

"Look, those are the funds that are necessary and they are sufficient, there was no need for anyone to add in that regard. The regulation itself has determined it for one month, and those are the funds that the school itself allocated."

For this, the "Oath for Justice" has been addressed to the Turkish Embassy in Kosovo.

They were asked whether, in addition to the cost of the training, they also covered their daily expenses outside of the hotel and institutions where they stayed.

However, this embassy has not provided a response either.

Despite the problems, as of February 2023, the regulation has not been changed for over two years.

Deputy Minister Syla says that they have raised this issue with Prime Minister Kurti.

"Syla: The KSF is given by the Ministry of Defense for one month, and it stimulates for one month.

Journalist: Is the daily wage enough for a month?

Syla: Yes, maybe it's not enough, but it has these opportunities, this is what characterizes it, this assistance is for one month, the others are according to the agreement that the education is carried out, according to the state that provides that education or that training.

Journalist: It has been raised as a concern by KSF soldiers, in cases where training or education has lasted more than a month, so 3 months, 4 months, and 1 month's salary is not enough, let's say in the USA, to cover 4 months' expenses?

Syla: There are such concerns, there are also efforts from the leadership itself, but also continuous requests from the Government to take another step, it would be good to make an effort in this direction, efforts have been made and are being discussed continuously.

Journalist: Who are you talking to?

Syla: For now, this rule applies to everyone.

Journalist: This concern was raised with Prime Minister Albin Kurti since he was the one who chose this regulation, which limits the daily wage for one month.

Syla: This is a decision of the Government, it is not a decision of one person, it is an analysis of the Ministry of Finance and the Government, so it is in the discussion, we have raised this concern of the military.

Journalist: When was this concern raised?

Syla: This is constantly discussed from moments when I have different training cases.

Journalist: And do we have an answer why it hasn't changed yet?

Syla: Yes, there is no objection in the sense of that, it is an analysis, it is being reviewed what form the possibility of having more daily wages could be created.

This has not only happened in the case of pilots in Turkey.

Deputy Minister Syla: It has been determined that the daily wage is sufficient

Sources from "Oath for Justice" have indicated that even in the case of the graduation of KSF officer, Çlirim Gërguri, in the USA for the Basic Engineering Course, his salary was covered after the first month by the American state.

"Oath for Justice" has requested information from the American Embassy in Kosovo to confirm this, but they have not responded.

"Journalist: So the only obligation the Kosovo Government has towards a soldier who has completed a long training period abroad is a daily wage. And I couldn't even cover the daily wage for a month, is this disappointing for the soldiers?"

Syla: No, no. The government, the ministry, the KSF have numerous obligations towards soldiers. It's not just a salary, the opportunity for education, advancement, the opportunity for presentation.

Journalist: But it is financially covered by friendly countries.

Syla: Look, there are other forms that we help, reciprocally with states we are with assistance for the development of education, this does not mean that we only have this problem of daily living. Because according to experts it has been found that it is sufficient, normal that the demands are increased and the means are needed by everyone more and more, but it is found that it is sustainable for one person or military to carry out the training or education.

For this regulation, which bears the signature of Prime Minister Kurti, the "Oath for Justice" has also been addressed to the Prime Minister's Office.

However, despite addressing questions to the persons responsible for media communication, as well as the legal advisor, no response was provided.

This situation does not only speak to the support of soldiers, police officers, and other public officials who are sent for education and professional advancement abroad.

This situation also speaks of the state's willingness to change its own decisions, which lead to the state's own detriment.

For nearly 3 years, the regulation has remained in effect, with soldiers and police officers having to cover their own expenses, or knocking on the doors of friendly countries to request the only assistance they should receive until the end of their journey from their own country.