Vullnet Bugaqku, senior researcher at the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI), said that the government had double standards, emphasizing that it protected government officials with indictments.
"There was a reason that we would not allow any person with an indictment into our Government, the opposite happened. Therefore, here we have a double use of standards," Bugaqku said, adding that there was protection for those officials who have indictments.
He said that we use double standards, while promising that when you come to power you will implement a standard and the moment you come to power you do not do it, it is your fault that you violate the principles on which you came to power.
Bugaqku added that the justice system needs vetting, but according to him, there must be political will in the Assembly to approve the amendments.
"Regarding the justice sector, I think that Vetting should be implemented, that there should be political will in the Assembly to pass these amendments. I believe that we will succeed in improving efficiency and the fight against corruption when we start evaluating the performance of the heads of the judicial system, as well as all judges and prosecutors," said Bugaqku. /Oath for Justice
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Bugaqku: In the past, members of the KPK were not given salaries or offices.
The years 2023-2024 with more single-source contracts from the Kurti Government, NGO representatives assess
Arbër Kabashi, researcher at the Initiative for Progress (INPO), on the "Tempus" show on KTV, said that in 2023 and 2024 there were more single-source contracts from the Kurti Government.
"During 2023 and 2024, there was a slightly higher number of contracts that were signed through negotiated procedures. When we talk about contracts with a negotiated procedure, we must take into account two elements: the number of contracts with a negotiated procedure and the value of those contracts," said Kabashi.
He emphasized that there are cases when contracting authorities themselves create the circumstances to cancel a procurement activity, so that they are then forced to sign a contract through a negotiated procedure.
The researcher says that they have observed this phenomenon in cases related to food provision, physical facility provision, and maintenance services. He says that for these three types of contracts, if the activity is canceled, the contracting authority is obliged to sign through the negotiation procedure.
"Regarding the contracts signed by the Ministry of Defense for the supply of food to the Kosovo Security Force, the procurement activities that have been in an open procedure or have been in an appeal procedure with the PRB, or have been canceled for two years in a row. The Ministry of Defense is obliged to have negotiated contracts to provide food for members of the Kosovo Security Force," said Kabashi.
According to him, the same problem is now occurring with the Kosovo Police.
Kabashi added that since they have been monitoring the Procurement Review Body, which acts as a tender court, they see that there has been a slight improvement in terms of timeliness in resolving complaints.
"This is probably due to the fact that the board is now functioning with four members, in the past we know that for a long time it functioned with three members, but it never managed to have five members," said Kabashi.
Regarding the decision-making of the PRB, Kabashi said that they see that there are cases when this body is not consistent in its decisions and that there are cases when different decisions are made on a certain issue.
"Also, another very serious problem is that the decisions of this panel, that is, the decisions of the PRB review panels, are in many cases contrary to the opinions previously given by the experts," Kabashi said.
Meanwhile, Vullnet Bugaqku from KDI said that if there is a foundation for the corruption in a government, it is the fact of how it conducts procurement procedures. According to him, if 80% are in a negotiated procedure, there is no clearer signal to prove that a government's scope of activity is developed through practices that can raise suspicions of corruption.
"In these 4 or 5 years that the exponents of the Vetëvendosje Movement have been in power, but also during the government, a certain phenomenon has been observed that I think that the Law on Public Procurement in negotiated or even closed procedure has the exception option. So, it is not standard to act through the negotiated procedure. So, in these 4 years of government, negotiated procedures have become standards, while the open or regular procedure has become an exception, and perhaps they are sometimes applied", said Bugaqku.
Meanwhile, Gzim Shala from IKL said that there was a situation where there was no accountability regarding these issues, while in terms of the totality of the actions taken, it implies that the Government did not have an anti-corruption approach. /Oath for Justice
Kastrati and Bugaqku: There was retaliation against whistleblowers by public institutions
Burbuqe Kastrati, project manager at the FOL Movement, and Vullnet Bugaqku, senior researcher at the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI), discussing the issue of whistleblowers on "Tempus" on KTV, said that there has been retaliation by public institutions against whistleblowers.
"What we have seen, whether from the working groups or from the trainings we have held with public officials or with the private sector in Kosovo, that is, businesses, we have seen that there is a very big difference and problems that are very easily noticed when talking to public institutions or the private sector in relation to the whistleblower law," said Kastrati.
According to her, given the importance of the whistleblower law and the whistleblowing mechanism itself in fighting corruption, they saw fit to focus on whistleblowing during Anti-Corruption Week.
Kastrati said that the first challenge is perception. According to her, in public institutions, but also in the private sector, there is a kind of fear of the term "signaling".
She emphasized that in a way, public officials associate whistleblowing as a type of espionage within the institution where they work, in relation to the violations and irregularities they see.
"Considering several cases of whistleblowing that have occurred in Kosovo, there have been whistleblowers who have had retaliation against them. There has also been a kind of inability and return to reality in the job they had," said Kastrati.
Kastrati said that there is a lack of awareness regarding this law. According to her, most institutions lack the information that a whistleblower officer should have.
She also mentioned the issue of the conditions where whistleblowers work. Kastrati stressed that there is no confidentiality for people who go and report violations, while adding that the biggest challenges are in the private sector.
Meanwhile, Vullnet Bugaqku from KDI said that this organization will also come out with a report on whistleblowers this week, which will point out the shortcomings of the law on the protection of whistleblowers.
According to Bugaqku, there are no clear criteria for who can enjoy the position of whistleblower official.
"We have a legal aid center and we notice that within a week there are many exponents, many officials, many whistleblowers who report and have more trust in us, in you as a civil society or organization than within that institution," Bugaqku stated.
He says that the whistleblower protection law deserves a supplement/amendment and a broader discussion, and improvement of some basic aspects.
"You know that there have been many cases of retaliation against officials who voluntarily and publicly reported corrupt phenomena in their institutions and then they have faced legal consequences, either suspension or even dismissal from their jobs," Bugaqku emphasized.
The researcher says that the state and we as a society must find a way to strengthen this mechanism and for the relevant actors to change clear strategies so that this is a successful mechanism and not a mechanism that rehabilitates some officials and receives a salary for another duty they perform. /Oath for Justice
Kabashi: Institutions are canceling contracts, increasing financial and administrative costs
Arbër Kabashi, researcher at the Initiative for Progress (INPO), speaking about the findings of the report on procurement, a report that this organization will publish as part of Anti-Corruption Week, said that institutions are canceling contracts, thus causing high administrative costs.
"During our continuous monitoring of the implementation of procurement plans, we have consistently noted that many contracting authorities are failing to sign contracts for all the activities they have planned. From the discussions we have had with both municipalities and central level institutions, they have consistently been justified in saying that for various reasons they are being forced to cancel contracts," said Kabashi.
Kabashi said that the report that INPO will publish is dedicated to contract cancellations, where they have identified that in some cases the contracting authorities themselves are the main cause that creates the circumstances for their cancellation.
"Cancellations are also foreseen by the Public Procurement Law, when procurement cases or activities can be canceled, however, we have seen that in some cases, the contracting authorities themselves are the main cause that creates the circumstances for a procurement activity to be canceled," said Kabashi.
He emphasized that they have collected statistical data for the last three years for all contracting activities.
"We see that there are a large number of procurement activities that have been initiated and then canceled. This undoubtedly constitutes a high administrative cost for all staff, procurement officers involved. It also constitutes a cost for the various economic operators who have submitted their bids and then come out disappointed by a procurement process that may be unfairly canceled by the contracting authorities", said Kabashi. /Oath for Justice
Kastrati: The Anti-Corruption Strategy has lacked a serious approach from the Government, this speaks volumes about its approach to the fight against corruption
Burbuqe Kastrati, project manager at the FOL Movement, stated that despite the promise that corruption would be the top priority of the current Government, the Government has lacked seriousness in finalizing the Anti-Corruption Strategy.
"The entire strategy of that document, the National Anti-Corruption Strategy, which is a vital document and which sets the path and the entire ambition of the Government of Kosovo to fight corruption, has turned out to be a document that, first of all, completely lacked the serious approach of the Government of Kosovo in relation to its completion and finalization, because we had a problem, so we saw it ourselves in the working group that there was a complete lack of seriousness in that aspect, to finalize that document, let alone vote on it," Kastrati said on "Tempus" on KTV.
According to her, the very fact that the most important, most vital document in the field of anti-corruption has not been finalized says a lot about the approach that this government has taken in the field of anti-corruption over the past four years.
"The other issue is that we have had government officials who have had indictments from the government in relation to either the failure to declare assets, which is an extremely important mechanism in the fight against corruption, and also the misuse of official duty. So, it turns out that along the way, the issues and the government's goals have certainly changed," said Kastrati, adding that civil society has continuously contributed to the drafting of the strategy through participation in the working group.
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"Elections can be held, through an extraordinary standard from the Constitution"
"So there is a total lack of seriousness and approach from the government in this area," she added.
On the other hand, Gzim Shala, senior researcher at the Kosovo Law Institute (KLI), said that if seen as a process, this strategy has been talked about for a long time.
He stressed that the law entered into force in August 2022, which obliges the government to adopt the strategy. He said that in February 2023, a working group was established with the obligation to finalize this strategy by December of that year.
"We are now in December 2025 and the Government of the Republic of Kosovo has never managed to approve this document. This approach also shows something else, that the Government itself has not been clear about what its strategy will be in preventing and fighting corruption. Second, the process as it has gone, we can clearly say that at least in the first draft there was an open tendency to 'smuggle' a scandalous draft," said Shala.
According to him, the violations and problems were open. Shala added that today we are at a stage where the government has completed its mandate, has been in office for several months and has never had a National Anti-Corruption Strategy, which was the basic promise with which it came to power. /Oath for Justice
Bugaqku: There was no will from the Government to approve the National Anti-Corruption Strategy
Vullnet Bugaqku, senior researcher at the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI), said that the Kosovo Government had no will to approve the National Anti-Corruption Strategy.
He said in "Tempus" that he was part of several working groups for the drafting of the Anti-Corruption Strategy and that according to him, the method and approach that the Government followed in drafting it is surprising.
"I think there was no sincere will and serious will on the part of the Government of Kosovo for this vital document to be approved," said Bugaqku.
Initially, he said that there were basic problems in the discussion of this document, which was very transparent. He said that the proposals that civil society had given him regarding this Strategy were not taken into account, while he emphasized that there were officials from the Prime Minister's Office who had a rigid approach, where it seemed that they had personalized the work of approving this Strategy.
"As a result of this approach, as a result of this behavior, it was not approved within the promised deadline and within the deadline that should have been met. We spent 4 years in government and it is strange how at the end of the mandate they try to approve the Anti-Corruption Strategy and it still has not been approved," Bugaqku added.
The researcher said that this happened because the actors responsible for drafting this Strategy were not serious and did not play their role in cooperating with civil society and international partners.
According to him, civil society had a lot of criticism of the Action Plan. He said that there was no concrete specificity on how this Report should be implemented within a 4-year period.
"Every time the Action Plan has been discussed, we have seen that there has been no idea. That is, the Prime Minister's Office has had no idea how to implement a certain issue or policy, whether in the field of procurement, or in the prevention of corruption, or in the rule of law or the efficiency of the judicial system. So, it seems that the Rule of Law Strategy, which has been approved, has not been consulted at all, and we have simply seen that there have been some definitions or some concepts that have not been analyzed at all in terms of how much it is in accordance with the Strategy," Bugaqku said.
Therefore, according to him, this Strategy as a whole lacked a SWOT analysis, as there was no clear methodology on how to work. /Oath for Justice
Shala: The fight against corruption continues to be not oriented towards high-profile corruption
Gzim Shala, senior researcher at the Kosovo Law Institute (KLI), said that the fight against corruption continues to be unfocused on high-profile corruption.
"First of all, it is problematic that the fight against corruption continues to be not oriented towards high-profile corruption, because there is a low percentage of high-profile officials who are indicted for corruption," Shala said in "Tempus".
Regarding corruption, according to him, if we compare it with the assessment of the European Commission Report, it can be seen that the phrase "an early stage of preparation" is constantly mentioned, so it is among the low indicators by which Kosovo is assessed in the fight against corruption.
The researcher said that there are several problems that have been identified in the Country Report, most of which are consistent with the findings of the Kosovo Law Institute. He said that some aspects that are problematic in the non-approval of the Anti-Corruption Strategy are both in terms of preventing and combating corruption.
"If we talk about preventing corruption, there are no concrete results, for example through the field of whistleblowing, there are problems in the field of wealth declaration - wealth declaration as a process does not give its effects because it is not simply a declaration of wealth - it is not to quench the curiosity of citizens regarding the wealth of public officials, but it is considered an anti-corruption tool. There are several problems that are also identified in this report, most of which are consistent with the findings of the KLI report", said Shala.
Meanwhile, regarding the trial of corruption, Shala said that tomorrow IKL will publish the report on the handling of corruption cases by the justice system for the year 2024-2025.
"We have a roundtable tomorrow, where we will present the report on the handling of corruption cases by the justice system for the year 2024-2025. Problems continue to exist in many areas in terms of prosecution, as well as in terms of adjudicating corruption cases," said Shala.
Shala also highlighted as problematic the issue of the timing of filing indictments, the fact that indictments are not filed while officials are in office, but after they have completed their duties - which, according to him, represents an inadequate institutional response. He also mentioned the poor quality of investigations in corruption cases as another problem, adding that there are still old cases that have not received a final epilogue. /Oath for Justice
Coalition of NGOs lists reasons for strike held at the start of Anti-Corruption Week
The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations, consisting of the Kosovo Institute for Law (IKD), the FOL Movement and the Initiative for Progress (INPO), with the motto "Together Against Corruption", on Monday launched what has now become a traditional Anti-Corruption Week. This time, this week began with a one-day strike of civil society.
Invited to the "Tempus" show on KTV, representatives of this coalition of NGOs explained what the reasons were for holding this strike.
Gzim Shala, senior researcher at IKL, said that Anti-Corruption Week is a traditional week organized by Civil Society Organizations specialized in the field of rule of law.
He said that this year they have chosen to protest, choosing a strike as a means to express their dissatisfaction.
"This year we have chosen to protest in the form of this strike to show our dissatisfaction with the blockage of institutions, the blockage of the state, the failure to fight corruption and other aspects that harm Kosovar society," said Shala.
Through the published video, Shala showed that they listed the reasons why they decided to protest in this way.
"There are a number of reasons why we have decided to hold a strike and protest. We have also shown them in the published video, Kosovo remains without an Anti-Corruption Strategy, full reform in the justice system has not yet taken place. There are a number of scandals for which there is no accountability, other reforms in the field of the rule of law are missing, Vetting never started and many other issues for which we are protesting today," said Shala.
He emphasized that through this strike they have decided to protest to show that they do not remain indifferent to the created situation that has blocked the state and lacks results in fighting and preventing corruption.
Meanwhile, Burbuqe Kastrati, project manager at the FOL Movement, said that during Anti-Corruption Week they try to have all actors working in the field of the rule of law present, especially those against corruption.
"The idea is to be close to citizens, but also close to decision-making actors. International reports in recent years show that we have not made progress in the fight against corruption. We are witnesses to this ourselves and it is very important to raise general awareness among citizens but also among decision-making institutions. They are in this case the main actors to increase their capacity in fighting corruption," said Kastrati.
Kastrati emphasized that it is important for them to be closer to citizens and institutions during this week, through the activities they organize.
Meanwhile, Arbër Kabashi, researcher at the Initiative for Progress (INPO), said that during their monitoring in the field of procurement, they identify problems that appear the same and are repeated from year to year.
"The same as our findings that we constantly make, the National Audit Office also makes the same findings. Regarding the local level, we have constantly had findings that municipalities are not respecting procurement planning. There are also many cases that municipalities are initiating procurement activities without sufficient funds. Based on the communications we have had with municipalities, this is as a result of the funds that the collective contract is taking from them and municipalities, in order to implement a certain project, are obliged to at least start the activity, the procedure as a procedure without sufficient funds, and when the opportunity arises in the future, to replace those funds", said Kabashi.
However, he said that this form is wrong, because municipalities can face lawsuits from economic operators. He said that they have identified cases where municipalities have initiated activities without executive projects. At the central level, a phenomenon that we have noticed is that many procurement activities are getting stuck in the project evaluation phase.
Another problem, he said, was the inability to open bids due to complaints from EOs and the contract notice.
On the other hand, Vullnet Bugaqku, senior researcher at the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI), said that despite efforts in recent years to make some reforms in the justice system, in practice this year too there are no final court decisions convicting senior officials accused of criminal acts of corruption.
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Shala: Kurti has double standards towards justice institutions
"We had cases where successful indictments by prosecutors in Kosovo were not proven with convincing evidence. We also had many reported cases of numerous investigations, which revealed a multitude of scandals involving government figures who, through various affairs, are almost being suspected, some are even being accused of abuse of position or official authority," said Bugaqku.
According to him, the judicial system still needs to improve its efficiency. He said that the performance evaluation of judges and prosecutors should begin. /Oath for Justice
