Latifi: Elizabeth Gowing resigned due to corruption in the allocation of funds to the non-governmental sector

Political analyst Blerim Latifi stated that the resignation of British Elizabeth Gowing from the position of advisor to Prime Minister Albin Kurti on issues related to non-majority communities was evidence of corruption that was happening in the context of donations given to non-governmental organizations, as reported by Gazeta Express.

Gowing resigned because the allocation of the 500,000 euros fund for non-governmental organizations and media of non-majority communities was carried out unfairly.

Gowing stated that over 90 percent of the funds had gone to Albanian non-governmental organizations.

"The reason for her resignation, as stated, is related to her observation that the funds managed by this office are not distributed fairly. Her resignation concerns the aspect of corruption that is seldom discussed, if discussed at all. It is corruption within NGOs, the misappropriation of public funds through civil society organizations," Latifi said.

As Latifi added, as soon as a new government is established in Kosovo, hundreds of non-governmental organizations "spring up like mushrooms after the rain around the government, aiming to absorb funds or donations provided by the government for issues of public interest."

"Usually, this process takes place through informal connections between the leaders of these NGOs and state officials. In short, an official tells his friend or relative to create an NGO and compete for a particular subsidy, to submit a project, and then they will do their part. So, more or less, this kind of misuse of public funds has been going on since the entry of NATO troops into Kosovo. NGOs take the funds and improvise the project implementation. Public institutions are full of swindlers, and it doesn't take much effort to realize that, but civil society is teeming with them," Latifi stated.

He added that not all NGOs were the same and that there were exceptions.

"Of course, there are always exceptions; it is neither logical nor fair to include the entire civil society in this story. The current government, while in opposition, promised to put an end to public-private corruption and acted so convincingly that it surpassed all electoral predictions. Elizabeth Gowing's resignation is one of the last indicators that tell us that these promises belong to the past," Latifi said.