Pristina, October 6, 2021 – In this infographic you can find information about the ways in which contracts can be found on the Open Procurement platform. (also photo editing).
Gjakova, October 5, 2021 – Today in Gjakova, FOL Movement and Democracy Plus organized the information session for the Open Procurement Portal and Red Flags. The purpose of these sessions that are being organized in the cities of Kosovo is to inform and talk with representatives of civil society and students about public procurement, open data, as well as the platforms that provide this data, such as the Portal “Open Procurement and Red Flags”.
These organizations also aim to encourage active citizenship to monitor and hold accountable the spending of public money by state institutions. This activity was supported by USAID Kosovo – Transparent, Effective and Accountable Municipality.
Prishtina, October 4, 2021 – The FOL movement today held the FOL Open debate with Ministers of Kosovo, where Jeta Tela – chief of the cabinet and Senior Political Advisor at the Ministry of Internal Affairs – was present today on behalf of Minister Xhelal Sveçla. The topic of discussion today was the realization of the Government’s Work Plan for the period March-September 2021, the priorities and the challenges that this ministry is facing.
This discussion is carried out with the support of the MATRA program of the Dutch Embassy in Kosovo and is implemented in cooperation with PIPS.
Pristina, September 23, 2021 – In 2018, the FOL Movement addressed a Request for Access to Public Documents to the Ministry of Finance on the process of evaluating properties along the construction route of the Pristina-Gjilan highway. These data throughout this period, despite the insistence of the FOL Movement for their publication, and despite the change of 3 parties in power, have been kept closed to the public.
The Ministry of Finance during this period, with various reasons, denied our approach to be informed about this process. Until today, after three years of public pressure and after a complaint to the Information and Privacy Agency, it was possible for FOL to have access to these data.
The data received by the Ministry of Finance will be analyzed and made public in the coming days.
The spending of public money must be transparent. Where there is a lack of transparency, there are suspicions of misuse.
Mitrovica, September 29, 2021 – In Mitrovica, FOL Movement and Democracy Plus today continued the series of information sessions for the “Open Procurement and Red Flags” Portal.
Activists and civil society representatives from Mitrovica today had the opportunity to learn how they can use the “Open Procurement and Red Flags” Portal to monitor and demand accountability for the spending of public money by state institutions.
This activity was supported by USAID Kosovo – Transparent, Effective and Accountable Municipality.
Prizren, September 28, 2021 – Today, in Prizren, FOL Movement and Democracy Plus organized the information session for the “Open Procurement and Red Flags” Portal.
The purpose of these sessions that are being organized in the cities of Kosovo is to inform and talk with representatives of civil society and students about public procurement, open data, as well as the platforms that provide this data, such as the Portal “Open Procurement and Red Flags”. These organizations also aim to encourage active citizenship to monitor and hold accountable the spending of public money by state institutions.
This activity was supported by USAID Kosovo – Transparent, Effective and Accountable Municipality.
Pristina, September 23, 2021 – FOL Movement and Democracy Plus organized the information session for the “Open Procurement and Red Flags” Portal. The purpose of this event was to inform and discuss with students about public procurement in Kosovo, open data, as well as the platforms that provide this data, such as the “Open Procurement and Red Flags” Portal, in order to encourage citizenship active to monitor and hold accountable the spending of public money by state institutions.
This activity was supported by USAID Kosovo – Transparent, Effective and Accountable Municipality
Pristina, August 26, 2021 – The FOL Movement held a press conference today, in which case it published the report “(Non) implementation of the Law on Declaration of Assets by the Government of Haradinaj, Kurti 1 and Hoti”.
Mexhide Demolli Nimani, executive director of the FOL Movement, said that this report, in addition to an analysis of the current law that is in force and the draft law that is being drafted by the current government, has also monitored the publication of asset declaration forms by the Anti-Corruption Agency and offers the data for each of the ministers and deputy ministers of the three previous governments such as the Haradinaj Government, the Kurti 1 Government and the Hoti Government regarding compliance with the legal deadlines for the declaration of assets on the occasion of appointment, the regular annual declaration and the declaration on the occasion of dismissal or the end of the mandate.
Meanwhile, Albana Hasani, researcher at the FOL Movement, said that from the main findings of the report regarding the observance of legal deadlines by the ministers and deputy ministers of the three governments, it appears that:
-Out of the 131 ministers/deputy ministers of the Haradinaj Government, only 62 of them had respected the legal deadlines for declaration of wealth when appointed to these positions (that is, within one month of being appointed to office), as well as the regular annual declaration, but none of he did not declare his assets upon handing over his official duties.
– Of the 45 ministers/deputy ministers of the Kurti 1 Government, only 20 of them have respected the legal deadline for declaring assets when appointed to these positions. However, only 15 of them have made the declaration of assets when they take office or when they are dismissed from office.
– Meanwhile, out of the 77 ministers/deputy ministers of the Hoti Government, only 32 of them have respected the legal deadline for declaring assets when appointed to these positions, declaring assets within the period provided by law. Meanwhile, none of the officials of this government have declared their assets when they take office or when they are dismissed.
These data, therefore, are based on the forms published on the official website of AKK. Also, it should be noted that, despite the fact that these officials did not declare their assets upon appointment, dismissal or dismissal, these officials do not appear “on the list of persons who have not declared their assets”, published on the web the website of the AKC. Details for each official from these three Governments can be found in the report by clicking here.
Based on these findings and the analysis of the current legal framework and the draft law that is being worked on by the Government of Kosovo, FOL gives the following recommendations:
Pristina, August 24, 2021 – We, the organizations below, react to the lack of transparency in the case of the proposal of candidates for Constitutional Court Judges by the special Committee of the Assembly.
The special committee of the Assembly for the examination of candidates for appointment to the Constitutional Court, chaired by MP Adnan Rrustemi, has secretly developed the process for the selection of candidates for judges in the Constitutional Court.
Although in the initial steps of this process on July 22, 2021 (at the stage of preparing the test questions) members of the civil society had participated in the monitoring of the process, in the later stages (of testing and selection) the civil society was not informed about the meetings at all of the Commission, although some civil society organizations had submitted requests and expressions of interest to the officials of the Assembly and the chairman of the Commission. At the same time, the chairman of the Commission Mr. Rrustemi had informed those present at the initial meeting that they will be informed about the next meetings in time.
Such information never happened (despite all the requests made), while this Commission, eight days later, published on the website the news that it proceeded to the Assembly for the appointment of the short list of six candidates, where only two will eventually be appointed from the Assembly in the next sessions. This process took place without the participation of civil society — although the meetings of the Commission should be open and transparent in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.
We as Civil Society Organizations in Kosovo see with concern the fact that this Commission ignores the involvement of civil society in such an important process as the selection of judges of the Constitutional Court. The Commission has neither sent invitations to participate in the Commission’s meetings, nor has it responded to expressions of interest in participation sent to its address. This did not happen in the preliminary process for examining candidates for Constitutional Court judges, where civil society had actively participated. Changing this practice is incomprehensible and has no legal basis. Moreover, this action of the Commission fundamentally affects the integrity of the process of selection of judges of the Constitutional Court, whose eventual selection would be described as non-transparent.
This is not the first time that the Commissions of the current legislature ignore the important participation of civil society in monitoring processes of public interest. In the organizations below, we see such trends as very disturbing and call for such to be considered by the entire political and social spectrum in Kosovo. Above all, the current legislature must be clear about the role and importance of civil society, creating the necessary conditions for the exercise of its mission.
Signatory organizations:
Kosovo Institute for Law (IKD)
The FOL movement
Group for Political and Legal Studies (GLPS)
Democratic Institute of Kosovo (KDI)
Kosovo Foundation for Civil Society (KCSF)
Mitrovica, August 24, 2021- The FOL movement, within the framework of visits with students of the Faculty of Law, has organized the last visit to the Basic Prosecutor’s Office of Mitrovica.
The students had the opportunity, through these visits, to become closely acquainted with the work of the Chief Prosecutors and prosecutors of Mitrovica, Peja, Pristina, Gjakova, Prizren, Gjilan and Ferizaj.
Pristina, August 13, 2021- FOL has completed the cycle of lectures on legal provisions and the fight against corruption.
In the 10th lecture of this series, Isuf Zejna appeared, who lectured about corruption in public procurement.
Pristina, 12 August 2021 – It has been held the 9th lecture on the cycle of lectures about the law provisions and the war against corruption. Muhamet Hajrullahu, from Telegraph lectured on corruption reporting and medias while explaining the difficulty of journalists and their reporting.
Pristina, 9 August 2021 – Saranda Ramaj, journalist at Koha Ditore, was the 8th lecturer on series of lecture about the law provisions and the war against corruption.
The theme of discussion was about corruption on health system.
Peja/Gjakova – 07 AUG 2021 – FOL has organized law students visits, on Peja and Gjakova Basic Prosecutions.
Based on the visit the students has the opportunity to see up close Peja and Gjakova Chief Prosecutions and Prosecutions work.
Pristina August 3, 2021 – FOL Movement on Tuesday has waited on visit the ambassador of the Dutch Kingdom, Mrs. Carin Lobbezo and the representative of the embassy, Mrs. znj. Venera Ramaj, senior official for the rule of law. During this meeting it was discussed about the transparency and the accountable of Kosovo Institutions, monitoring the government’s annual work plan, reforms on the public administrations, the rule of law in the Republic of Kosovo, Vetting process, corporation between institutions and civil society organizations in Kosovo.
Prishtina, 27 July 2021 – The ad-hoc committee of the Assembly of Kosovo for the selection of the member of the Media Complaints Board has requested a meeting yesterday from the civil society representatives, who are following the process of selecting a member of the Board, to sign the Confidentiality Agreement (see appendix 1)
We, the civil society organizations and the activists written below, strongly oppose the initiative of the deputies through which it is attempted to silence the civil societies and the activists. The restrictions set forth in this Confidentiality Agreement are illegal, severely infringe on the public’s right to information, and impede the work of civil society.
The Confidentiality Agreement stipulates, inter alia, that civil society representatives may not openly discuss or publish materials related to candidates as well as the progress of the process during the process (and contains significant restrictions that would apply once the process is completed).
Although we believe that we need to maintain the integration of the process, the Confidentiality Agreement is illegal. Law no. 04 / L-44 on the Independent Media Commission stipulates that “[a] members of the Appeals Board shall be appointed by the Assembly of Kosovo on the basis of open and transparent procedures” (Article 38 (1)). This provision prevents the ad hoc Commission’s harmful tendencies for member selection procedures to be closed through confidentiality agreements. The conditionality of the participation of civil society representatives in the selection process with the signing of this agreement violates the legal requirement that the procedure be open and transparent, preventing civil society representatives from expressing themselves freely regarding eventual findings.
Furthermore, the mission of civil society organizations and activists is to monitor the work of public authorities, to inform the public about monitoring findings, and hold politicians and people in power accountable for their actions. By forcing organizations and activists to sign such illegal agreements, the Assembly will disable the work of organizations and deprive the public of the right to be informed.
As such, this requirement prevents civil society organizations from performing one of the basic functions of their mission, which is to monitor the work of public institutions and to keep the public informed.
The Assembly of Kosovo is in the process of selecting a member of the Media Complaints Board of the Independent Media Commission (IMC). The selection will be made by the Ad-Hoc commission of the Assembly of Kosovo for the selection of the member of the Media Complaints Board composed of: Mërgim Lushtaku and Floretë Zejnullahu (Democratic Party of Kosovo) and the members Valon Ramadani, Doarsa Kica Xhelili, Njazi Isaku, Fitim Haziri and Besim Muzaqi (Lëvizja Vetëvendosje), Agim Veliu (Democratic League of Kosovo), Time Kadriaj (Alliance for the Future of Kosovo), Igor Simic (Serbian List) and Samra Iljazi (Group Multiethnic). The illegal agreement was proposed and sent for signature by email to several organizations after the first meeting of the ad-hoc commission held on July 26, 2021. The agreement was proposed by the chairman of ad-hoc commission Mërgim Lushtaku and was not opposed by any of the other members of the Ad-Hoc Committee present.
We request that the above-mentioned deputies of the ad hoc Committee of the Assembly of Kosovo for the selection of a member of the Media Complaints Board withdraw from this initiative and allow civil society organizations and activists to monitor freely.
Signatory organizations and activists:
Republika e Kosovës – Republika Kosovo-Republic of Kosovo
Kuvendi – Skupština – Assembly
Ad-Hoc commission for the selection of members of the Media Complaints Board
Confidentiality Agreement
This Confidentiality Agreement is an audible document that sets out the commitment of each individual to behave with integrity in their involvement in the appointment process.
Confidentiality Agreement
As an independent observer, a representative of civil society, I vow to:
Maintain the confidentiality of the candidate by:
Maintain the confidentiality and integrity of the candidate by:
Raised with the Chair of the Committee, any concerns about the integrity in the conduct and performance of others during the conduct of the appointment process.
Emphasize to the Chair of the Commission, any other issues or concerns which may jeopardize the integrity of the appointment process.
Name:…………………Process: Board Members for Media Complaint
Signature:………….. Date:26.07.2021
Prishtina, 23 July 2021 – Lëvizja FOL, Debate Center, and Internews Kosovo in the frame of “Justice Sector in Kosovo – responsible, reliable and transparent” continued their visits in the Basic Prosecutions of Kosovo, in which, in addition to the visit of the institution, a meeting will be held with the Chief Prosecutors of these prosecutions.
The purpose of these meetings is to familiarize students with the function, efficiency, and competencies of these institutions.
In the frame of these visits Lëvizja FOL has held meetings with two Basic Prosecution Offices in the country, that of Gjilan 22 July 2021 and Ferizaj 23 July 2021.
While these visits the students had the opportunity to talk with the Chief Prosecutor Mr. Arben Kadriu from the Basic Prosecution of Gjilan and Mr. Shukri Jashari the Basic Prosecution of Ferizaj.
FOL will hold such meetings in the Prosecutions of Prizren, Peja, Gjakova, and Mitrovica.
To participate in the next visits please fill in the link below;
Prishtina, 09 July 2021 – FOL has held the information session for Telegrafi.com journalists for the Open and Transparent Procurement Portal, as a platform for open procurement contracts. In this session, the journalists were informed about the data provided by the portal regarding public contracts, as well as about the new modules that are already part of this portal, mapping, and networking. Also, from Democracy Plus was introduced the Red Flag in procurement website, which is included in the Open and Transparent Procurement Portal. Red flags aim to prevent mismanagement and corruption in public procurement.
Prishtina, 08 July 2021 – Lëvizja FOL held the 5th lecture in the series of lectures on legal provisions and the fight against corruption, where present was Skender S. Perteshi from the Kosovo Center for Security Studies as guests. Throughout this lecture Mr. Perteshi lectured on the dangers of security in the country from corruption, shortcomings in the justice system in terms of security, and Kosovo’s path towards membership in regional and international security organizations.