The Minister wants to have conversations with both the opposition and the government in Kosovo in an attempt to secure a yes to the prison plan. Minister of Justice Peter Hummelgaard (S) is not giving up and will now try again to convince parts of the opposition in the Kosovo parliament to vote for an agreement on the Danish lease of 300 prison places. This is what Peter Hummelgaard said in an interview with Ritzau, after the Kosovo government will reintroduce the bill, even though the agreement did not receive the necessary majority on Thursday. “It is a high priority for Denmark and a high priority for me. That is why I will use my energy to hold the Kosovar government to the fire, but also to have conversations with opposition parties leading up to the day of the vote,” said the Danish Minister of Justice. He will “certainly” not rule out that he will “soon” travel to Kosovo again. He did so in February as well, when despite meetings with opposition parties, he could not convince enough to vote for it. To pass international agreements in the Kosovo parliament, a two-thirds majority is required – 80 mandates. Therefore, the Kosovo government needs support from opposition parties. But only 75 of the parliament members voted in favor of the agreement with Denmark on Thursday, so it was not passed.
Peter Hummelgaard held a virtual meeting with the Minister of Justice in Kosovo on Tuesday. “As I understand it, parties, parliament members and the government were also surprised that there were five votes missing. And that is why the bill will now be reintroduced.” A new vote on the Danish prison agreement is expected “within the next couple of weeks,” it is stated. “When the Kosovar government takes this step, it is also because – I assume – that they assess that it was a slip-up that there was not the necessary two-thirds majority the other day,” said Peter Hummelgaard. Denmark is currently waiting for the third year for Kosovo to ratify the prison agreement. However, Peter Hummelgaard still has “good patience.” “But it is clear that we are doing what we can to exert friendly but firm pressure on both the Kosovo government and the Kosovo parliament,” he said.
It was then Minister of Justice Nick Hækkerup (S) who announced in April 2022 that the treaty between Denmark and Kosovo on the lease of the 300 prison places had been signed and was now awaiting approval in the Kosovo parliament. Back then, the expectation was that the first deported foreigners could start serving their sentence in the prison at the beginning of 2023. The cost of leasing the prison is 1.5 billion Danish kroner over ten years. And it is “not on the table” for that amount to increase to convince the last votes in the Kosovo Parliament, says Peter Hummelgaard. The Conservative Party suggested on Tuesday to bring Kosovar officers to Denmark for a temporary period. Here they, the party suggests, would work in prisons on departments with deported individuals until the Danish prison plan can be realized. However, Peter Hummelgaard is focused on the prison agreement. “Right now, the most important thing is to get the agreement approved so that we can move forward with the project. Because it is an important agreement that should help relieve the heavily burdened Danish prisons,” he said.