Rexhepi after dismissal of 20 Serbian officials: The administration must be purged of unjustified cases

Minister of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure (MESPI) Fitore Pacolli has announced the termination of employment contracts for 20 Serbian officials at the ministry. According to her, they have repeatedly failed to report to their workplaces since 2016.

Pacolli explained that the decision was made after the verification of official documentation and in accordance with the recommendations of the National Audit Office.

Commenting on the matter for “Bota Sot,” former investigator Agim Rexhepi said the move should mark the end of previous practices.

“The decision sends a clear signal that the time when people received salaries without doing any work, and when Kosovo tolerated structures that did not serve its institutions, must come to an end. The administration cannot function if, for years, people who do not go to work are paid, while the citizens of Kosovo bear this burden through their taxes.

This should not be an isolated case. Institutions must carry out a full review of every similar situation. Anyone employed in the name of implementing agreements, but who has failed to fulfil their obligations or respect the laws of the Republic of Kosovo, must face legal responsibility. The state cannot serve as an ATM for anyone,” he said.

Rexhepi said the problem stems from the way former members of the so-called “Civil Protection” were integrated into Kosovo’s institutions.

“The inclusion of former members of the so-called ‘Civil Protection’ in institutions was part of the dialogue agreements, led at different periods by Kosovo negotiators Edita Tahiri, Avni Arifi and Skënder Hyseni, with the mediation of the European Union. The very idea of integration was not a problem, as it aimed to eliminate parallel structures. The difficulty lay in its implementation. Political concessions were made, while there was insufficient oversight to determine whether these individuals were genuinely serving the Republic of Kosovo.

Previous governments, for years, treated the dialogue as a formal process and accepted compromises without establishing strong oversight mechanisms. These concessions created opportunities for some individuals to receive salaries from Kosovo’s budget, even though in practice they did not perform the duties for which they had been hired,” he added.

In conclusion, the former investigator stressed that public service must be based on accountability and the enforcement of the law, without different treatment in such cases.

“There is no longer room for double standards. Everyone who works for the state of Kosovo must be at their workplace and respect the institutions, as well as the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo. Otherwise, the contract must be terminated without hesitation.

The fight against parallel structures cannot be won solely through police action. It also requires purging the public administration of every unjustifiable case, safeguarding public money and proving that the law is applied equally to everyone. Only in this way can a serious state be built, where dialogue is not used to legalise privileges, but to strengthen the sovereignty and functionality of the Republic of Kosovo,” Rexhepi concluded to “Bota Sot.”