Haziri criticizes government over three unmet conditions for Council of Europe membership

Lutfi Haziri, a member of the Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Committee from the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), has criticized the Kosovo government for failing to meet three conditions that, he says, continue to prevent the country from joining the Council of Europe.

Speaking after the committee met with Germany’s ambassador to Kosovo, Rainer Rudolph, Haziri highlighted Germany’s importance in Kosovo’s integration efforts. He described Germany as a driving force behind European integration and said that, for the LDK, membership in the EU and NATO is not just an aspiration but a mission in which Germany plays a critical role.

On the Council of Europe, Haziri said the government had still not met the three conditions. He called it painful that, for the first time, the Committee of Ministers had not approved the Parliamentary Assembly’s report.

Haziri also spoke about developments in the country following the tragic killing of Arlinda Zekaj, challenging the way institutional responsibility is being handled. He said responsibility extends through the chain of command, just as political action does, while three police directors are taking public and moral responsibility to protect politicians.

He said the Kosovo Police, which he considers a highly credible and trusted institution, is being sacrificed for political failures. Haziri stressed that, following suspensions in the Kosovo Police and Prosecutor’s Office, responsibility rests with the government cabinet, and that resignation is a moral act.