The government in Kosovo must work harder to secure a majority in parliament, so an agreement for Denmark to lease 300 prison spots in the country can be finalized. This was stated by the Danish Minister of Justice, Peter Hummelgaard (S), following a recent setback where the necessary majority in Kosovo’s parliament was not achieved. “It was just a small bump in the road,” Hummelgaard told TV2 News, emphasizing that it is still the responsibility of the Kosovar government to ensure the approval of the agreement in the national parliament. The agreement was not directly voted down, but was a few votes short of the necessary two-thirds majority. The Minister of Justice signals continued optimism about the possibility of pushing through the agreement and mentions that he intends to apply diplomatic pressure on Kosovo to advance the process. However, the situation is complicated by statements from Kosovo’s Deputy Minister of Justice, Blerim Sallahu, and Eugen Cakolli from Transparency International Kosovo, both suggesting that the agreement may need to be revised or completely reconsidered. Cakolli has even declared the agreement “legally dead” following the latest defeat in parliament.
The original agreement, signed by former Minister of Justice Nick Hækkerup (S) in April 2022, aimed to allow foreign nationals with expulsion convictions to serve their sentences in Kosovo starting in 2023. The agreement has an economic framework of 1.5 billion Danish kroner over ten years. Minister of Justice Hummelgaard has not been available for further comments since the vote on Thursday, despite repeated attempts by Ritzau to secure an interview.