Crime in Kosovo

Police vehicle in the streets of Pristina

Kosovo within communist Yugoslavia had the lowest rate of crime in the whole country.[1] Following the Kosovo War (1999), the region had become a significant center of organized crime, drug trafficking, human trafficking and organ theft. There is also an ongoing ethnic conflict between Kosovar Albanians and Kosovan Serbs. The large Kosovar diaspora which had built up in Western Europe during the 1990s, combined with the political instability, created ideal conditions for Kosovo to become "Europe's crime hub"; well into the 2000s, Kosovo remained associated with both ethnic conflict and organized crime.[2] A Kosovo Police service has been built up under UN administration, beginning in 1999. It had an operational force of 7,000 officers in 2004, and further expanded to 9,000 by 2010. The deplorable crime rate led to an additional deployment of civilian law enforcement resources of the European Union to Kosovo, under the name of European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo in 2008. Originally scheduled for two years, the duration of the deployment was extended twice, as of September 2012 scheduled to last until 2014.

According to the "Kosovo 2012 Crime and Safety Report" by the US Department of State (intended as an advisory to US nationals travelling abroad),

"High unemployment and other economic factors encourage criminal activity in Kosovo. Kosovo is rated as HIGH for residential and non-residential crime. Street crimes consisting of theft and purse snatchings are serious problems in Kosovo, especially in Pristina. Criminals often commit crimes while armed with handguns, as weapons are fairly easy to obtain."[3]
  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Macdonald78 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "IMAGE MATTERS! Deconstructing Kosovo's Image Problem" (PDF). Forum 2015 by IKS – Kosovar Stability Initiative p.19. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2013. Financed by: Kosova Foundation for Open Society. "Kosovo has a serious image problem. In many European countries, the name ‘Kosovo’ still conjures up images of ethnic conflict and organized crime." citing:
    • David Binder, Kosovo - a Mafia society, Balkananalysis, 23 February 2008.
    • Mathias Joop & Sammi Sandawi Operationalizing of the Security Sector Reform in the Western Balkans, Institute for European Policy ()
    • "Kosovo drug mafia supply heroin to Europe", The Guardian, World News, 13 March 2000
    • "Report on the Transparency International Global Corruption Barometer 2007" Released by Transparency International – December 06, 2007
    • "Trafficking in Persons Report", US State Department, June 2007, p.180
  3. ^ "Kosovo 2012 Crime and Safety Report". United States Department of State Bureau of Diplomatic Security. Retrieved 24 February 2013.