The Group for Legal and Political Studies (GLPS) has today published a report on the second year of Kurti's government.

In the GLPS report, it is stated that in general, the second year of the government was characterized by the phenomenon of the positions of acting officials exceeding in most cases even the legal deadlines.

"This phenomenon has seriously damaged the functioning of the public administration in Kosovo. It is worth mentioning that this year the government found only 4 general secretaries with an official mandate, while the other positions were all acting.

Beyond senior positions, since 2019 we have no external recruitment for the professional level for the state administration. In fact, there are cases when even though the recruitment procedures have been completed, the Government has failed to appoint them, and the concrete example in this case is the position of the General Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister of Kosovo", the report states.

Another phenomenon that characterizes Kurti's governance, GLPS emphasizes the long-term incompleteness of important positions within departments and key institutions, such as the position of the Minister of Health, the Director of Police, various secretaries and executive agencies.

"Similarly, from the GLPS analysis, it appears that due to unsatisfactory performance, as was warned by Prime Minister Kurti, a reformation of the Government would have to be done, which has not happened. That there is a need for reformatting, this is now indisputable", it is further said.

According to this organization, even after two years, the management of human resources during this period has had problems because the merger of the ministries happened only on paper, but in practice some of them still function as separate ministries.

"Even with this Government, even though it is the second year, the practice of not publishing annual work reports has continued, both for the government in general and for institutions/ministries in particular. In other words, the phenomenon of lack of transparency and accountability is still very pronounced".

The GLPS report states that Kosovo is still at an early stage in the fight against corruption and organized crime, however, the police operations against smuggling in the north of Kosovo and the cases of "Subsidies" are seen as positive signs in the fight against organized crime and corruption. ” and “Brezovica”.

Positive is also considered the adoption of several laws such as: the new Code of Criminal Procedure, the Law on the Agency for the Prevention of Corruption, the new Law on the Declaration of Assets, the legislation on the financing of political parties and the decision on the creation of structures for the drafting of the Strategy State and Anti-Corruption Action Plan.

GLPS emphasizes that the Government should focus more on the policy-making aspect for the drafting of adequate legislation in the more efficient handling of cases of organized crime and corruption by courts and prosecutors.

"The Veting process and that of the State Bureau for the Verification and Confiscation of Unjustified Assets have gone through several stages viewed chronologically. Among other things, the local actors have addressed the Venice Commission for advisory opinions which have already been published, which should be considered positively.

However, at the moment both draft laws are 'frozen assets' due to the fact that both are in the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Kosovo for evaluation of constitutionality. Therefore, until a decision of the Constitutional Court, the Kurti II Government must strengthen cooperation with opposition parties, parties from the ranks of non-majority communities in Kosovo, civil society and interest groups, in order to implement justice reforms", it is stated. further.

The GLPS report also analyzes foreign policy, public administration reform, the issue of European integration and dialogue with Serbia.

"Kosovo's application for membership in the Council of Europe in May 2022 and in the European Union in December 2022 should be evaluated positively.

In the second year of Kurti's government, Kosovo faced several important obstacles in foreign affairs. Despite its efforts, it failed to obtain any new state recognition or secure membership in international organizations.

In 2022, Kosovo's foreign service found itself facing a major financial scandal involving Martin Berishaj, the country's ambassador to Croatia. According to reports, Berishaj is suspected of being involved in a money laundering scandal in Slovenia, where he transferred around 600,000 euros.

However, the same has continued to exercise the duties of the ambassador, although the resignation would be desirable", he writes in the report.

For GLPS, the National Development Strategy 2022-2030 represents a good momentum in the country's development, however the Government must address the limitations of transparency and accountability and increase public participation in policy development and decision-making.

Meanwhile, regarding the process of European integration, it is said that the process remains limited within the mechanisms of the Stabilization Association Agreement and the European Agenda for Reforms - ERA II.

"In the aspiration for integration, the Government has already formally deposited the application for membership in the European Union, on December 15, 2022. This is an important step for reconfirming the orientation towards the EU and for greater promotion of reforms in the country", it is said further.

As for the dialogue with Serbia, GLPS considers that there is a lack of a genuine and regular dialogue with the opposition parties regarding this process.

"Shortly before two years of governance, in principle an agreement was reached between the parties in Ohrid for the implementation of the Franco-German Plan. GLPS considers that in principle it is not a bad plan but it is insufficient in the sense that it does not guarantee de-jure recognition although based on what we have seen it guarantees at least some kind of de facto recognition because it includes recognition of symbols, territorial integrity, recognition of diplomas , stamps, license plates and provides for the opening of missions or liaison offices", the report states.

As for the 7th point related to the Association, GLPS considers that although the rights of the Serbian minority should be accommodated according to the laws and the Constitution of the country, this should not be the main point of discussion, but what should be requested first is the guarantee from Serbia that I will respect the plan since in the past it has shown the opposite. And it makes no sense to ask Kosovo to implement such an agreement if Serbia does not show seriousness and commitment to its implementation.

On the other hand, the EU and the US must provide some kind of security or mechanism that guarantees that Kosovo will be recognized by the 5 unrecognized countries and the way will be opened for membership in important international organizations. Because, at this stage, it is not clear what Kosovo is benefiting from, since it is actually waiving the request for mutual recognition at the center of the agreement". /Telegraph/

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