President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi met today with the director of the Anti-Corruption Agency (AKK), Hasan Preteni.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi said the unpleasant situations that have occurred earlier between the ruling parties and opposition were overcome and that meetings of various levels are already taking place.

“The Office of President will help maximally in the cultivation and increase of a cooperative spirit. I am confident that previous unpleasant situations are already overcome and that now Kosovo has a normal functioning of its full, legal, constitutional and legitimate institutions,” he said. Thaçi’s comments came as he was meeting with the director of the Anti-Corruption Agency, Hasan Preteni.

The head of the state thanked the Anti-Corruption Agency for the excellent work this institution has done in issuing the annual report for 2015. He said that Kosovo has made progress in fighting corruption and organized crime and, according to him, this agency has been among the strong mechanisms in this respect.

“Now we are expecting positive news from Brussels regarding the recommendation for visa liberalization, while one of the main criteria that contributes to the positive news is the successful fight of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo against corruption and organized crime”, President Thaçi said, praising the work of all institutions, investigative authorities, the prosecution, the judiciary and all other relevant domestic and international institutions.

Meanwhile, Director of the Anti-Corruption Agency, Hasan Preteni thanked the president for his continued support for this institution, in terms of creation of better working conditions.

“Today, the agency does not have any requests whatsoever, neither to the president or the chairman of the Assembly, the central institutions, nor any particular request for better working conditions. Since 2010, the agency has the requested budget, it enjoys good working conditions, its staff is in harmony with the organizational structure, thus we do not have any logistical problems”, Preteni said, adding that he discussed with the president also regarding some data from the report, saying that there is always room for improvement.

Preteni said that Kosovo is a leader in the region in regards to the asset declaration, as 99.5% of the officials have already declared their assets, but also added that more remains to be done in terms of stronger cooperation of institutions whose mission is to fight corruption, as well as other mechanisms, primarily cooperation of these institutions with the judiciary.

President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi stressed that there is always room for improvement and that “more needs to be done to ensure an uncompromising fight and success against organized crime and corruption”.