Prishtina, 16 January 2012
As Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo and on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, I express one more time my deep regret for the violent protest organized by “Vetëvendosje” movement.
Kosovo is a democratic state and I reiterate that the right to protest in a peaceful way is a right guaranteed by the Constitution. This right will not be violated by anyone anytime. But, I am determined in pointing out that no one has the right to misuse the right to protest in order to jeopardize normal functioning of the legitimate institutions of our state.
The Government of the Republic of Kosovo considers that Kosovo Police, as competent authority to enforce the rule of law and order, has taken all legal measures, in line with its operational standards and procedures, to maintain a calm and controlled situation during the protest. Further on, the Kosovo Police made its complete operations plan public in advance with regards to managing of the protest and explained the same plan to the protest organizers beforehand. Unfortunately, protestors failed to refrain from road blocks, and more, from the use of violence. This made intervention by the police necessary to implement the rule of the law and order. As a consequence, the Kosovo Police used means allowed by the law and most democratic standards to disperse protestors and to unblock the roads.
Kosovo Police and the Police Inspectorate will make a detailed analysis of the protest and will provide professional explanations which should clearly determine whether there was an exceeding in the use of means and methods for the implementation of the operation and to guarantee free movement during the protest. In case it is concluded that there were failures to respect procedures, misuse of authorization or excessive use of police force, then the independent and competent bodies will take all the due disciplinary measures in line with the applicable laws and regulations.
As Prime Minister, it is my constitutional task to support the rule of law and order and on this occasion I would like to express my acknowledgement for the professionalism shown by Kosovo Police, which although facing the force of violence by the protestors, managed to keep the situation under control and avoided any escalation of the situation, which could have been with catastrophic consequences.
I would like to thank the protestors and the citizens for refraining themselves and for not allowing the situation to escalate further.
As Prime Minister, I call the public for civic and political maturity and I assure the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo that the Government will remain completely in the service of its citizens and in the service of protecting interests of our state.
Last modified: July 31, 2022