Written by: Hasan PRETENI
PRISHTINA, 8 December 2007 - Tomorrow, on 9 December 9 in all democratic countries around the globe is marked the international day of fight against corruption.
This day will also be marked in Kosovo, a place which is on the verge of establishing a state in the full sense of the word, and as such will urgently become part of all international mechanisms that have as their mission the fight against corruption.
Kosovo Anti-Corruption Agency in cooperation with our partners UNDP and OSCE and APJK tomorrow will reward all those journalist who the professional jury selects for the best stories about the sacrifice of their noble work shown to promote the transparency, prevention and reporting of corruption cases.
Besides the importance of political developments over the final status of Kosovo as well as the electoral process, without a doubt my impression is that the efforts of the Anti-Corruption Agency have been issues that were followed with special attention by the general public.
Today is a nice opportunity for me to convey our cordial thanks to all those people who demonstrated their civic courage to cooperate with the Kosovo Anti-Corruption Agency who provided a valuable contribution to our efforts to strengthen the rule of law. Poverty in Kosovo has proved to be in a large scale, in fact it seems that there is a cause and that cause is corruption.
The fight against poverty is, first of all, fight against corruption. And it is understood by citizens of Kosovo. As a result, throughout this year we have had a strong collaboration with them. To report on a corruption case on the free line means our immediate intervention and prevention of misuse of millions of Kosovo taxpayers' euros by some "kleptocrats". Consequently, in some of higher institutions of Kosovo we managed to stop the realization of the illegal "tenders".
The appeal of few weeks ago by ACA addressed to all central and local institutions for good management and prevention of misuse of public money, irrespective of interpretation made by some people, however, has reflected our concerns about how the irresponsible were handling with the Kosovo budget. For those who interpreted the appeal as they wanted, we remind you that corruption in Kosovo is currently a cancer that erodes not only the budget of Kosovo, but above all, is eroding the spirit and the identity of our society.
The battle against corruption is crucial for society. Throughout this year we have not stood idle by, but we are not prone to self-satisfaction, because the battle is in its beginnings. Therefore, any move that tends to spread the virus of corruption has the necessity to examine as the first criterion the setting of anticorruption program.
Kosovo society is the society that has just emerged from the war, and there are just a few metres from centuries of the journey of achieving its dream. Therefore we must face with determination and fight the evil, which impoverishes our lives, which ravages our future - and that evil is corruption. Not long ago the people of Kosovo had the courage to rise to seek freedom and to mobilize against tyranny and oppression. I believe that even now they have the courage to join our fight against corruption, which will open the way creating a bright future for our children.
(This article is published in most daily newspapers of Kosovo)
