Suspicious Payments for Phantom Workers, Experts Demand Accountability from Former “Civil Defense” Members

Since 2016, these individuals have regularly benefited from the state budget without ever showing up for duty. Recently, it was decided to terminate the contracts of 20 officials from the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure, who come from the Serb community and are known as former members of the so-called “Civil Defense”.

The announcement for this action was made by the acting Minister of MESP, Fitore Pacolli, stressing that the measure was taken in implementation of the recommendations of the National Audit Office.

“The termination of the employment relationship came as a result of their continuous absence from work, as well as in accordance with the instructions of the National Audit Office.

Official data showed that these employees, recruited since January 5, 2016 within the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, have never respected their contractual obligations, including chronic absence from the workplace and disregard for official responsibilities.

“We will install the full rule of law and apply uniform criteria for everyone in the public service,” Pacolli stated.

She also emphasized that state entities will not tolerate any violation of the legal framework.

“No individual can enjoy the privilege of being employed without performing their duties. We will be strict in enforcing norms, regardless of origin or rank, because the administration exists to serve the people with honesty and maximum respect for official duty,” concluded Pacolli.

Experts on the political scene describe the employment of people who provide no contribution to Kosovo institutions as a serious wound, insisting on accountability and a thorough investigation into the funds disbursed over the years.

In their view, it is unacceptable for public sector employees to repeatedly violate their employment contracts and still continue to receive salaries from the state coffers.

They have pointed out that the authorities must ensure that recruitment procedures are guided by law, probity, and accountability, while suspicious cases of misuse of taxpayer money must pass through the filter of justice bodies.

Burjani: A huge failure to employ enemies of Kosovo

Asked about this issue, political analyst and jurist Blerim Burjani spoke to “Bota sot” about the termination of contracts of Serbs who have been absent for years in Kosovo’s administration, calling the engagement of individuals who undermine the state absurd.

“Certainly it is a fatal mistake to employ people who act against the state of Kosovo, to finance those who do not recognize this country and harbor only hostile thoughts towards it. This is intolerable. The first question is: who employed them with a salary from the state of Kosovo to fight against Kosovo?”, he said.

Burjani believes that similar experiences must not be repeated, appealing for maximum vigilance also when appointing magistrates and prosecutors from the Serb community.

“This mistake must not be repeated. Also for Serbian judges and prosecutors, increased caution is needed. The vacant positions must be announced and, if possible, those who do not accept the state should be excluded. So, judges and prosecutors of Serbian origin should first sign a document on citizenship, whether they recognize it or not, and then proceed with their contract, respectively re-employment. Abandonment of the workplace has severe legal implications, so there is a legal framework that must be pursued and implemented with great dedication,” declared Burjani.

Qarri: Investigate the money taken by phantom officials, bring the guilty to justice

On the other hand, political analyst Gani Qarri, in a statement to “Bota sot”, described this situation as a direct consequence of the illegal actions of past executives.

According to him, official figures speak clearly: only in 2025, hundreds of thousands of euros have been paid to these persons.

“Unfortunately, as official documents attest, the state of Kosovo still today suffers the consequences of the anti-legal acts of past criminalized governments, which is also confirmed by public records showing that in the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, from January 5, 2016, there were Serbian officials employed who, from the beginning, absolutely no one respected the contract, and during all this time they were absent en masse, never fulfilling the duties deriving from the employment relationship, but nevertheless, even recently, each of them benefited from over 2000 euros monthly salary.

State statistics show that only during 2025, for these fictitious Serbian employees and members of Serbian terrorist formations prohibited by law in our country, payments were made in the total amount of 469,885 euros, or about 2000 euros per person per month, without their presence being proven even for a single day at work, let alone continuity of physical engagement in duty; a problem which, as stated in the NAO report, had actually been identified also in the preceding years, but the appropriate steps were never taken to stop this flagrant misuse and put an end to useless payments from the money of Kosovo taxpayers.

“Moreover, out of 61 employees of the Serb minority in the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure in January 2016, it was widely known that at least 20 of them were part of the so-called Serbian “civil defense”, who since 2012 were operating openly within parallel Serb municipalities and illegal organized networks of Serbia in our territory, while the permanent absence from work since the moment of appointment and the non-compliance with work duties, forced the Minister of MESP, Fitore Pacolli, that upon the recommendation of the National Audit Office, for at least 20 officials – former members of banned Serbian terrorist organizations such as the so-called “civil defense”, finally after more than 11 years, to terminate their employment contracts, due to absence from work since the first day, or January 5, 2016,” he stressed.

Further, Qarri raised the dilemma of why Kosovo institutions are reacting only now, when the absences and payments for these officials have continued for more than a decade.

“Thus, those who for all these years, continuously and for a period of over 11 years, have not appeared at work, but in the name of the Brussels Agreement, were employed in this ministry in 2016, and for nearly 11 years have not set foot on duty for even a minute, and yet have received their salaries completely illegally from the state of Kosovo, the question arises why the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning only now remembered, in accordance with the recommendations of the National Audit Office, to take the decision to terminate the contracts with those illegally privileged for all this time in Kosovo.

“So that payments no longer continue for people who figure as “fictitiously” employed but have never contributed, damaging the state budget with their non-appearance and never providing effective assistance to our country, in addition to this completely reasonable and very necessary decision, it is publicly demanded that in implementation of the recommendations of the National Audit Office, just as with the case in question, Kosovo institutions also review other cases of former members of Serbia’s parallel structures employed “on paper” in Kosovo’s public administration, who not only have never worked, but worse, have been active in illegal institutions and parallel structures of Serbia and have participated in the most serious criminal and terrorist acts against our country, while they have benefited and perhaps continue to benefit even today salaries from the state bodies of the Republic of Kosovo,” he added.

In his assessment, such cases require emergency treatment and immediate cessation of payments for individuals who have not fulfilled any contractual obligation.

“Such contracts must be suspended urgently and such illegal payments stopped without delay, when it is well known that since 2016 there were also such extreme cases of employment of former members of banned Serbian terrorist organizations, such as the so-called “civil defense” or also members of the other Serbian terrorist organization banned by the state of Kosovo, the so-called “northern brigade”, who while themselves circulate freely throughout Serbia, may perhaps continue to receive salaries from the state institutions of the Republic of Kosovo.

“Such acts, not only are unjust and have severely damaged transparency and accountability in our country, but they also constitute a criminal offense, for which the responsible persons must be brought immediately to justice and receive the deserved punishment for this intolerable act, whoever has allowed and silently overlooked it for all these years in Kosovo,” underlined Qarri.

In closing, he insisted on a full investigation into the payments made to people who appear only in documents, without providing any contribution to Kosovo’s administration.

“Considering that the illegal payments to these phantom Serbian officials who have never been seen at the workplace and have never helped this country, members of terrorist organizations such as the so-called “civil defense” and “northern brigade”, who have even risen against our country and for this reason, in June 2023, were declared by the Government of Kosovo as terrorist organizations and any activity of theirs in our country was banned by law; while the ban on their activity entered into force immediately, not only any payment but also any further activity of theirs should have brought severe legal consequences, which it seems, despite the obligation, at least regarding the ban on payments to them, has not happened so far. Therefore, someone must urgently sit on the bench of the accused and receive the legal punishment for these unprecedented irresponsibilities that for all these years have dared to happen in our country,” concluded Qarri for “Bota sot”.