Prime Minister Kurti: Departure of Serb judges was politically organized, their return cannot be imposed

During the meeting of the Government of Kosovo, acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti commented on the resignations of prosecutors and judges from the Serb community, describing them as a well-thought-out and politically motivated action.

He recalled that the abandonment of state institutions by Serb officials in late 2022 marked the beginning of a series of acts aimed at undermining the state. According to him, the government repeatedly called on them not to leave their duties and to remain in their posts.

However, Kurti clarified that while they had the right to plead with them not to leave, they cannot now be asked to return. “We had the political legitimacy to say ‘do not go’, but we do not have the constitutional and legal right to say ‘come back’,” he declared.

The head of the executive added that the resignations constituted a personal decision, although they were clearly politically organized, while any eventual return must be handled only in accordance with the law and the Constitution. He stressed that a return that violates constitutional norms cannot be allowed, especially when the initial departure was an act of sabotage against legality and the constitutional order.

Further, Kurti mentioned that the Kosovo Police and then the Prosecutorial Council had already addressed these cases some time ago. He expressed the expectation that the Kosovo Judicial Council would follow the same path, but noted that the meeting planned for this issue failed due to lack of quorum. He hopes that in the next session this topic will reach a definitive conclusion.