The Kosovo Prosecutorial Council (KPC) voted on Monday to officially open the application process for the position of Chief State Prosecutor, effectively resetting a high-profile selection process that has been stalled in a institutional deadlock for over four years.
The decision to initiate the 15-working-day application window passed with five votes in favor, one against, and no abstentions during a heavily debated council session led by KPC Chairman Arian Gashi.
The session exposed deep structural disagreements within the council regarding external institutional pressure. Council member Milot Krasniqi cast the dissenting vote, raising sharp concerns over the timing and sudden urgency of the announcement. Krasniqi openly questioned whether the KPC was bending to outside political branches, referencing a formal letter sent to the council by the Acting President and Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, which urged the immediate opening of the vacancy.
“A bad precedent will be created if a Chief State Prosecutor is not decreed simply because [other branches of power] do not like the name,” Krasniqi warned. He referred to the prolonged vacancy left after President Vjosa Osmani systematically refused to decree the KPC’s previous 2022 nominee, Blerim Isufaj, an impasse that left the nation’s top prosecutorial office under temporary acting leadership for years.
Despite Krasniqi’s objections, the majority of the council, supported by non-prosecutor member Visar Krasniqi, emphasized that the prolonged absence of a permanent Chief State Prosecutor was severely undermining the efficacy, functionality, and international standing of the country’s entire judicial system. KPC leadership assured the public that new, robust regulatory frameworks have been integrated into this selection cycle to strictly guarantee the democratic principles of meritocracy, absolute transparency, and institutional integrity.
