“We need your views, your input and your perspective on the rule of law situation in Kosovo. It is only with your involvement that we can build a comprehensive picture.”’ said Steve Smith, the Deputy Head of EULEX’s Programme Office at the start of a special workshop in Pristina for non-governmental organisations (NGO’s).

The event was organised to explain how EULEX ‘programmatic approach’ will work in practice and to stress the importance of the involvement of NGOs’ and civil society as a whole.

EULEX Programme Manager Alessandro Tedesco was one of the organisers.

“The aim of the workshop is to illustrate how EULEX monitoring, mentoring and advising activities are performed and reviewed. It is crucial that we involve local civil society organizations so they can feed in their research and views on the rule of law situation as well as the performance of EULEX,” said Mr Tedesco.

About 35 NGOs attended the event. Several issues were raised including EULEX’s strategy to fight organized crime, applicable laws and to what extent EULEX itself is accountable.

The Head of EULEXs Policy Office, Dominique Orsini, also gave a presentation.

“We have shared objectives in the rule of law area. We must work together to achieve sustainable progress. This is about partnership” said Mr Orsini. He also pointed out that this was just the start of an on-going process of building links between EULEX and the NGO sector.