Gëzim Mekuli supports Kurti and Haxhiu: The state is not a hotel, those who left on Belgrade’s orders should not return

The debate over the return to the justice system of Serbian judges and prosecutors who resigned en masse during 2022 has sparked a sharp reaction from journalist Gëzim Mekuli.

In a post on social media platforms, he described their departure as “a coordinated political coup,” denying any professional character to this action. According to him, anyone who has abandoned Kosovo’s institutions by obeying Belgrade’s directives has no place in the country’s courts and prosecutors’ offices.

Mekuli expressed full support for the stance held by Prime Minister Albin Kurti and acting Justice Minister Albulena Haxhiu, emphasizing that the judges of the Republic of Kosovo have a duty to enforce only the Constitution of Kosovo. At the same time, he sharply attacked some international diplomatic representatives, who, according to him, are treating as normal the return of those who left their posts at the behest of another state.

In his full post, Mekuli used sharp tones and direct language. He argued that a judge who executes Belgrade’s orders has embraced the political path, not that of justice, adding that the collective resignations of 2022 were aimed at weakening and exhausting the state of Kosovo.

“In no serious democracy do you return to office after abandoning the institution on the orders of another state,” he wrote, posing the rhetorical question whether a German or French judge who leaves on orders from Moscow or Berlin would be accepted back on the bench. The answer for him is clear: not at all.

The journalist deemed unacceptable the behavior of some ambassadors, who, he said, present the situation as if the judges and prosecutors were merely on parental leave. “Justice is not a poker for Belgrade,” he stressed, closing with a firm stance that anyone who has chosen Belgrade and violated Kosovo’s constitution should continue their career there and not in the Republic’s institutions.