EU Criticism of Dismissal of Serb Prosecutors Sparks Debate: Was the Reaction Justified?

The European Union has opposed acting President of Kosovo Albulena Haxhiu’s decision to dismiss seven Serb prosecutors.

In a statement on the matter, a spokesperson for the European bloc said the actions of Haxhiu and the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) did not “appear to be in accordance with the law.” He recalled that the prosecutors had previously announced that they were withdrawing their resignations.

According to the spokesperson, this does not appear to comply with the law, due process and the general criteria of the rule of law in Kosovo. He said the EU calls on all relevant institutions to refrain from actions aimed at obstructing the reintegration of Kosovo Serb judicial personnel.

On July 21, Haxhiu announced that she had signed decrees dismissing seven prosecutors from the Serb community who had resigned from the justice system in 2022.

In a Facebook post, she said the move brought to an end a process that had dragged on for years and implemented the decision of the competent institution, in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Kosovo.

The European Union’s criticism of Kosovo’s institutions over the dismissal of the seven Serb prosecutors has sparked wide-ranging debate about the administration of justice, integration into institutions and political influence over the judicial system.

The prosecutors left Kosovo’s institutions in 2022 as part of the collective resignations of Serb officials, which were politically encouraged and coordinated by Belgrade.

The EU’s position has raised questions about how to maintain a balance between upholding the rule of law and safeguarding the functioning of Kosovo’s institutions.

Legal expert Blerim Burjani, commenting on the European response for “Bota sot,” criticized the EU’s approach and recalled that the Serb prosecutors had resigned specifically for political reasons.

He called on the European Union to assess the case more professionally and fairly, and to support Kosovo on the matter.

According to Burjani, the EU should at least be more candid when it comes to the professional ethics of Serb prosecutors and judges. He stressed that they abandoned their jobs without any professional explanation or motivation, solely for political reasons, while the role of a judge or prosecutor cannot be exercised alongside political engagement.

Burjani said the EU must be fair in its assessment and examine the issue from a professional rather than political perspective, particularly when it comes to the administration of justice. According to him, it would have been more reasonable to support Kosovo or, at the very least, for the European response to have had a professional rather than political tone.

The legal expert also called for respect for Kosovo, its legal order and its constitutional system.

He argued that the more the EU indulges the Serbs, the greater the consequences for law and order in Kosovo.

According to Burjani, Kosovo can reinstate these individuals in the system only if they recognize the state and accept its legal order and laws. Otherwise, he said, they should remain outside the institutions in accordance with their own wishes, because there is no guarantee that they will not abandon their jobs again after a period of time to return to politics, while refusing to respect Kosovo’s laws.

He described such conduct as unserious and reiterated that further indulgence would only cause greater damage to law and order in the country.

Burjani stressed that Kosovo, together with its legal and constitutional order, must be respected and that the situation cannot be turned into a “free-for-all.” According to him, legal rules apply to everyone, and no one can leave their job whenever they wish and return at will.

He added that such a practice does not occur in EU member states or in other countries.

Concluding his statement to “Bota sot,” Blerim Burjani said the state is not a child to be played with, but functions on the basis of order, laws, procedures and clearly defined rules that everyone must follow.

Political analyst Gani Qarri also expressed surprise that the EU had almost passed over in silence the scandalous statements made by Serbian Minister Snezhana Paunoviq, while reacting with strong criticism toward Kosovo over the enactment of a lawful decision.

In his comments to “Bota sot,” Qarri supported all measures and decisions by the Government of Kosovo aimed at extending the rule of law and sovereignty to the northern part of the country.

He called it more than astonishing that the European Union remained almost silent after Snezhana Paunoviq, an extremist minister in the Serbian government and a favorite of Aleksandër Vuçiq, said that, had she been in Sllobodan Millosheviq’s position, she would have “ethnically cleansed Kosovo” of Albanians. According to Qarri, instead of supporting Kosovo in making the justice system operational, the EU resorted to baseless accusations against the lawful and constitutional decisions of the state institutions of the Republic of Kosovo. In this context, he cited the decree issued by acting President Albulena Haxhiu as a step to enforce the law and preserve the integrity of the most important state institutions.

Qarri recalled that the Government of Kosovo had made the correct constitutional decision to replace illegal vehicle license plates issued by Serbia with the legitimate RKS plates of the Republic of Kosovo. According to him, the decision was intended to restore law and order in the north as well and had been stipulated in the agreements reached in Brussels. However, at the dictates of the Serbian president, the former information minister in the government of the butcher Millosheviq and criminal Aleksandër Vuçiq, Serbia’s extended arm in Kosovo, the so-called “Serb List,” on November 5, 2022, ordered Serbs employed in the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo to leave them. Qarri described this as an unlawful act and a flagrant intervention by Serbia in Kosovo’s internal affairs, adding that the EU had also failed to prevent it at the time.

The analyst reiterated that the Serb prosecutors and judges left of their own accord, solely for political reasons and in coordination with the government in Belgrade.

For this reason, he considered the European Union’s criticism unfounded and said Kosovo’s institutions had acted correctly and in accordance with the law when they rejected the Serb prosecutors’ request to return to work.

Qarri said the prosecutors from the Serb community obeyed Belgrade’s order in November 2022 and resigned without facing any pressure from the state institutions of the Republic of Kosovo. For this reason, according to him, acting President Albulena Haxhiu was right to sign the decrees dismissing the seven prosecutors on July 21 of this year, an action he considered normal and entirely proper from a legal standpoint.

He noted that the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council had previously rejected the request of the Serb prosecutors who had changed their minds to withdraw their resignations, which, according to him, had been submitted more than 4 years earlier on Aleksandër Vuçiq’s orders from Belgrade and of their own free will, without any pressure from Kosovo’s institutions. Qarri recalled that Serb officials from the north had collectively left the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo at Serbia’s dictates. The decree of acting President Albulena Haxhiu was required for the KPC’s lawful decision to take effect, to end the obstruction of the institutions’ normal functioning and to avoid the legal uncertainties arising from unresolved proceedings.

According to Qarri, there are no grounds for criticism from the EU, as the Serb prosecutors voluntarily resigned from Kosovo’s justice system in November 2022 solely because the Government of Kosovo made the necessary lawful decision to replace illegal Serbian license plates with the legitimate plates of the Republic of Kosovo. He stressed that this obligation had also been stipulated in the agreements reached in Brussels between the two countries, while the resignations came on Vuçiq’s orders from Belgrade and without any pressure from Kosovo’s state institutions.

Continuing his criticism of the EU’s approach, Qarri congratulated Haxhiu for enacting the Kosovo Prosecutorial Council’s decision by decree.

In his assessment, Haxhiu’s signing of the decrees shows that Kosovo will continue to act decisively and in accordance with its Constitution and laws.

Qarri said the seven prosecutors from the Serb minority had resigned under pressure from Belgrade and had left the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo of their own accord. According to him, the EU is applying double standards, as it has taken no steps to prevent the criminal and unlawful actions of Serb criminals in the north, yet opposes the decision of acting President Albulena Haxhiu. He recalled that Haxhiu had said she was merely implementing the decision of the competent institution, in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Kosovo, to bring an end to a process that had dragged on for years.

The analyst said the European Union was publicly and unjustifiably criticizing acting President of Kosovo Albulena Haxhiu’s decision to dismiss seven Serb prosecutors who had been part of the collective resignations in November 2022.

According to him, the signing of the decrees proves that the Republic of Kosovo will continue to act decisively, in accordance with the Constitution and laws, to protect the integrity of its most important state institutions. Qarri also noted that just one year earlier, Kosovo had ranked first in Europe and third in the world for law and order, which, according to him, demonstrates how realistic and legally sound decisions such as Haxhiu’s decrees are.

In conclusion, Qarri said the EU should have supported, rather than criticized, the act that brought a years-long process to an end.

He said Kosovo had no option but to act as it did, while recalling that former Kosovo Police director for the northern region Nenad Gjuriq had also refused to implement the decision of the competent institution. Qarri reiterated that the Serb prosecutors’ resignations had been politically motivated and coordinated with Serbia.

At the end of his comments to “Bota sot,” Gani Qarri said the EU itself should have welcomed the conclusion of this years-long process through a presidential decree issued in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Kosovo, as a decision that respects legal procedures and the principles of the rule of law. He added that the main Ibar Bridge in Mitrovica has unjustly remained closed for decades, without reason or explanation, even though an agreement on it was reached in Brussels many years earlier through the EU’s own mediation.