The German Ambassador to Kosovo, Jorn Rohde, stated that Kosovo urgently needs to form its institutions and that politicians must prioritize the state over their parties. After the 22nd failure to constitute the Assembly, Rohde told KosovaPress that the deadlock is negatively affecting Kosovo’s image abroad.
Rohde said that the lack of functional institutions not only impacts internal decision-making processes but also hinders Kosovo from benefiting from international initiatives, such as the European Union’s Growth Plan.
“The word describes it well — it’s a deadlock, a standstill. I said last week that this makes people apathetic, and the last thing a revitalized democracy needs is a blockade. People did their part on February 9th, and politicians need to put the state first and party politics second. So, I think Kosovo urgently needs to form its institutions. But it’s not my job to do the politicians’ work; I can only observe. However, I can say with certainty that this does not improve Kosovo’s image abroad. If you don’t have a functional institution, it’s difficult to do your homework because you don’t have the authority to make tough decisions that are now needed.** Whether it’s EU Growth Plan funds, which are on hold because Kosovo’s Assembly is not functional and therefore cannot ratify agreements,” Rohde said.
He added that the Assembly deadlock is due to a lack of compromise among political parties.
“There simply isn’t the compromise needed between political parties… I’m not here to give grades. I can say politics requires compromise, and since I am the German ambassador, of course, I consider my own country. We had difficult elections, difficult results, but people compromised because they put the state first. Our elections took place two weeks after Kosovo’s, and now we have a functional parliament for a month, and I hope Kosovo soon follows our step,” Rohde declared.
On Tuesday, MPs failed for the 22nd time to constitute the Assembly. Again, the coalition of Vetëvendosje with Guxo and Alternativa did not manage to form the Committee for the secret ballot election of the Speaker.
