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| Handcuffs and prison cell (montage) |
In Kosovo, the Minister of Justice, Albulena Haxhiu, confirmed on Thursday that there is an agreement in principle with Denmark to provide space for 300 prisoners, who after serving their sentences would be deported from Denmark.
The Danish government said the project aims to ease prison overcrowding which has increased by 19 percent since 2015. It said the number of inmates in Denmark reached more than 4,000 earlier this year.
Danish Minister of Justice Nick Haekkerup was quoted by Danish media as saying that "it has been agreed to rent 300 prison cells in Kosovo and to expand the capacity of prisons in Denmark by several hundred places".
The Minister of Justice in Kosovo said that the issue has been negotiated by the former governments and it is about the prison of the city of Gjilan. She said an agreement had been reached in principle, the details of which would be debated during a visit by the Danish justice minister next week.
"We will also visit this correctional center. This agreement also includes financial support for Kosovo, although I can not say the details today because they will be unveiled very soon and also investment in renewable energy, which is an urgent need of Kosovo, but also support with donations related to rule of law ", said Minister Haxhiu, emphasizing that the agreement has not been signed yet and must be approved by the Kosovo Parliament, as it is an international agreement.
"I consider that if the Assembly of Kosovo supports this agreement, because we need two-thirds of the votes, then we consider that in addition to strengthening cooperation with the state of Denmark, we will have the opportunity to develop our institutions through finance from the agreement.", she said.
According to Minister Haxhiu, “prisoners will not be the ones who have acts of terrorism or mental problems. So we asked not to include these. There will be persons who will be convicted of other crimes. "I believe that the nationality will be known by the Minister of Justice of Denmark when he comes to Kosovo and I believe that questions will be addressed in their direction as well", she said.
"This is a good sign that Denmark evaluates how prisoners are treated in the Republic of Kosovo because an assessment has been made in advance of how countries, especially those in the Western Balkans, treat prisoners, how much their rights are respected and Kosovo is one of the countries that most respects the rights of prisoners, because of course it is a heavy burden for Denmark to send them to a country where the rights of prisoners are not respected," said Minister Haxhiu.