Monday

25th Sep 2023

Kosovo politics holding back EU trials on organ trafficking

  • Thaci (c): Do the EU and US need him for the sake of stability in Kosovo? (Photo: ec.europa.eu)

EU efforts to shed light on allegations of organ trafficking in Kosovo risk being delayed by a power struggle in Pristina.

The plan is to create a new court in The Hague in early 2015 on the model of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

It will try suspects on evidence collected by the Special Investigative Task Force (SITF), a Brussels-based unit of Eulex, the European rule of law mission in Kosovo.

The allegations of organ trafficking first came out in a report by Swiss senator Dick Marty in 2010.

Marty said top leaders of the KLA - the Kosovo guerrillas who fought Serbia in the 1990s, including Kosovo PM Hashim Thaci - abducted Albanian and Serb civilians, murdered them, and sold their body parts on the black market.

The SITF says it has enough proof so that "charges can be filed" against “certain senior [KLA] officials”.

It wants to try them in The Hague because Kosovo is too dangerous for witnesses and its courts lack international credibility.

EU countries on 29 September changed Eulex’ mandate so it can “support the relocated judicial proceedings” - trials on foreign soil.

Kosovo foreign minister Enver Hoxhaj also told EUobserver that Pristina is in talks “with the Dutch government and with Brussels” on the bilateral agreements they need to go ahead.

But Kosovo’s inability to form a new government after elections in June means its parliament cannot pass the necessary laws on working with the tribunal.

“There is legislation that needs to be approved by the Kosovo assembly so that the creation of [the] court is compatible with Kosovo law”, SITF spokesman Joao Sousa said.

The political mess comes after Thaci’s party, the PDK, won the most votes but not a majority.

Four opposition parties - the LDK, the AAK, Nisma, and Vetvendosje - did get enough votes to create a ruling coalition. But Kosovo’s president and its constitutional court could not get Thaci to stand aside, creating a stalemate.

The situation is also causing delays for EU efforts to “normalise” Kosovo relations with Serbia because parliament cannot formalise the accords.

A matter of weeks?

For his part, Hoxhaj predicted there will be a new coalition in a matter of “some weeks”.

“I don’t think the stalemate we have at home will impact badly on the special court … this will be one of the key priorities for the next government”.

But independent analysts are less optimistic.

Avni Zogiani, a lawyer who runs the anti-corruption NGO, Cohu, in Pristina said the situation “suits” Thaci because it helps him to evade the Marty allegations and broader accusations of graft.

Zogiani has documented Thaci family links to dodgy public procurement contracts in the EU and US protectorate.

But he said international powers have so far shielded the PM from justice in return for Serbia “normalisation”, which is unpopular because it gives autonomy to Kosovo Serbs.

He warned that if they confront him he will cause trouble by calling on ex-KLA men to hold protests in Pristina.

“If Thaci is arrested, for sure he would try to get his people on the streets and he would join those forces who are against the dialogue [with Serbia] … The internationals get political stability in return for their loyalty. This is why Kosovo politicians have become millionaires while 50 percent of ordinary people live in poverty”.

The Thaci minister, Hoxhaj, dismissed Zogiani’s claims as “unfounded … conspiracy theories”.

He said Kosovo authorities have “nothing to hide” and have “enormous political will” to go ahead with the SITF tribunal in order to clear the KLA’s name.

“Kosovo fought for freedom and liberty. Since the Marty allegations were made public they have shaken the image of Kosovo and we are very keen to close this chapter”.

’Few are innocent’

Doris Pack, a German centre-right politician and former MEP who has worked on Kosovo since the break-up of former Yugoslavia, agreed with Hoxhaj to an extent.

She told this website the Marty allegations are “unconvincing”.

She said if the SITF has compelling evidence against Thaci then it does not matter if he stays in power and she cast doubt on fears that his clan would cause instability.

“If they really have something on Thaci then he can be brought to trial even if he is still prime minister”, she noted.

“I don’t think there would be street protests or that everything would stop. People understand that this case must be closed and if someone is punished the majority of Kosovars would accept it”.

Pack said the best recipe for stability would be a coalition between Thaci’s PDK and the LDK.

But she agreed with Zogiani that corruption in Kosovo’s political elite and in the top ranks of the international community in Pristina is holding back development.

“The internationals who ruled Kosovo for the past 10 years created networks of corruption but no one can bring them to court because they are internationals”, she said.

“Very few people are innocent in this region.”

EU’s €500m gender violence plan falls short, say auditors

The 'Spotlight Initiative' was launched in 2017 with a budget of €500 million to end all forms of violence or harmful practices against women and girls in partner countries, but so far it has had "little impact", say EU auditors.

Latest News

  1. EU trade chief in Beijing warns China of only 'two paths' forward
  2. Why should taxpayers pay for private fishing fleets in third countries?
  3. Women at risk from shoddy EU laws on domestic workers
  4. EU poised to agree on weakened emission rules
  5. China trade tension and migration deal This WEEK
  6. Europe's energy strategy: A tale of competing priorities
  7. Why Greek state workers are protesting new labour law
  8. Gloves off, as Polish ruling party fights for power

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators, industry & healthcare experts at the 24th IMDRF session, September 25-26, Berlin. Register by 20 Sept to join in person or online.
  2. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  3. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  4. International Medical Devices Regulators Forum (IMDRF)Join regulators & industry experts at the 24th IMDRF session- Berlin September 25-26. Register early for discounted hotel rates
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. International Sustainable Finance CentreJoin CEE Sustainable Finance Summit, 15 – 19 May 2023, high-level event for finance & business
  2. ICLEISeven actionable measures to make food procurement in Europe more sustainable
  3. World BankWorld Bank Report Highlights Role of Human Development for a Successful Green Transition in Europe
  4. Nordic Council of MinistersNordic summit to step up the fight against food loss and waste
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersThink-tank: Strengthen co-operation around tech giants’ influence in the Nordics
  6. EFBWWEFBWW calls for the EC to stop exploitation in subcontracting chains

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us