EU police raid Kosovo ministry, official's home

Pristina, Kosovo - The European Union's law-enforcing mission in Kosovo raided the Transport Ministry in what it said was an investigation ordered by a special prosecutor.

Several dozen officers from the EU Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo, or Eulex, carried out boxes apparently filled with documents Wednesday from the ministry as Italian carabinieri armed with machine guns guarded the premises.

Local media reports said the investigation might be targeting corrupt officials.

Transport Minister Fatmir Limaj said he was not aware of the reason behind the searches.

"It seems that some investigations are ongoing as in any other place," said Limaj, a former rebel fighter against Serb security forces who was cleared of war crime accusations by a United Nations tribunal in 2005.

Limaj said he and other officials were extending cooperation to Eulex investigators but insisted that he had not been "summoned or notified" about the raid.

Police also raided the house of the ministry's chief procurement officer, Nexhat Krasniqi, local reports said late Wednesday. His lawyer confirmed that the raid occurred and that "some things" were removed from Krasniqi's home.

Kosovo, with a large Albanian majority, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nine years after NATO ousted Belgrade's forces from the Serb province to end ethnic repression and bloodshed. A UN administration governed Kosovo in the meantime.

The United States and most EU nations have been among the 67 countries to recognize Kosovo's independence.

The EU deployed Eulex with around 2,000 police as well as judicial, customs and other law-enforcement experts to Kosovo in 2008 to help it begin establishing the rule of law.

Kosovo remains plagued by organized crime and corruption despite international efforts and the end of its conflict more than a decade ago.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/321130,eu-police-raid-kosovo-ministry-officials-home.html.