Country Reports on Terrorism 2012

enforcement officers in Milan, Turin, and Venice on how to engage more effectively with
immigrant communities.
KOSOVO
Overview: The Government of Kosovo continued to cooperate with the United States on
counterterrorism-related issues in 2012, with progress made along numerous fronts. The security
and political situation in northern Kosovo continued to limit the government’s ability to exercise
its authority in that region, where the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR) and the EU Rule of Law
Mission (EULEX) are responsible for maintaining a safe and secure environment and
strengthening the rule of law, including at the borders. While Kosovo and neighboring Serbia did
not directly cooperate on counterterrorism issues, both governments worked to implement an
Integrated Border Management (IBM) plan with joint checkpoints in December.
Legislation, Law Enforcement, and Border Security: The Kosovo Assembly approved a new
criminal code (CC) and criminal procedure code (CPC) in December, both of which came into
force on January 1, 2013. The new laws preserve the UN model on counterterrorism criminal
legislation, which was also the basis of the previous code. The CC raises the punishment for
terrorism-related crimes, and provides a greater range of criminal offenses to charge against
putative terrorists, such as weapons offenses or intrusion into computer systems. In addition, the
new CC permits the prosecution of terrorists even if a planned terrorist act is not executed. The
new CPC grants Kosovo authorities a greater flexibility to investigate criminal acts in the
planning stages to prevent crimes and terrorist acts. Furthermore, the CPC has an integrated
confiscation process to ensure that assets related to the execution of criminal acts, both funds and
weapons, are confiscated. Evidence from other countries will also be able to be used more easily
in Kosovo courts, thus allowing the conduct of international counterterrorism investigations in
Kosovo.
U.S. training programs, supplemented by donations of equipment through the Export and
Border-Related Security Program, continued to improve the ability of the Kosovo Customs
Authority and the Kosovo Border Police to control Kosovo’s borders and detect and interdict
weapons and other contraband at border crossing points.
In December, the Government of Kosovo began implementing the IBM agreement reached in
February with Serbia and brokered by the EU. Kosovo and Serbia opened four jointly managed
crossing points by the end of 2012, with support from EULEX officials. The IBM agreement
stipulates that Kosovo and Serbia will establish mechanisms for exchanging information and
other data from the areas which are or may be of relevance to, the prevention, detection, and
investigation of criminal activities. Implementation of the agreement is anticipated to strengthen
Kosovo’s border security.
Despite implementation of the IBM agreement and the establishment of the four jointly
administered crossing points, much of the traffic into northern Kosovo uses bypass roads that
circumvent the official checkpoints. KFOR and EULEX are limited in their ability to shut down
the illegal crossings into Kosovo, which allow traffic and goods to avoid Kosovo border and
customs controls. As a consequence, the border remains porous and trafficking of goods and
people is widespread.
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