Police Probing Kosovo Recognition "Bribe"

A police investigation into a $2 million ‘bribe’, allegedly handed to government officials in the Maldives to recognise Kosovo’s independence, is in progress despite a halt to the parliamentary probe.

Last week, the Maldives’ National Security Committee dropped its investigation into the allegations after President Mohamed Nasheed, who had called for the probe, “failed to provide crucial pieces of evidence”.

But police from the chain of Indian Ocean islands have confirmed to the Miadhu news agency that they will continue their enquiries “without any regard to political pressure”.

The allegations emerged after a delegation from Serbia, led by Srdja Popovic, of the Centre for Applied Non-violent Action and Strategies, CANVAS, lobbied both President Nasheed and opposition groups to push for the recognition of Kosovo to be annulled. Nasheed was the first to initiate an investigation into the matter.

The Maldives recognised Kosovo’s independence on February 19. The recognition was followed by media reports claiming that Kosovo businessman and politician Behgjet Pacolli allegedly delivered a bribe of $2 million to officials in the Maldives government.

Pacolli has strenuously denied the allegations and accused the Serbian government of “being behind this speculation”. Maldives’ Foreign Affairs Minister Ahmed Shaheed has echoed this claim.

The foreign minister has maintained that the Maldives recognised Kosovo’s independence on the advice of the United Kingdom and the United States. Shaheed said it was “undeniable” that Pacolli had paid a lot of attention to the Maldives, and the pair had met, but dismissed accusations of bribery.

Since recognising Kosovo in February, both the American and British governments have thanked the foreign minister for the decision, Shaheed said.

“I am happy to have worked with the UK and the USA, and with our friends elsewhere, on the issue of Kosovo in a principled, transparent and careful manner,” Shaheed told Miadhu.

“In all our recent high-level contacts with our counterparts in the UK and the US, the government has been reminded about the importance of a stable and independent Kosovo, a predominantly Muslim country, for the wider Balkans.

“Our partnership with several of our allies on the question of Kosovo will continue, as will our principled efforts to use diplomacy as a tool to promote peace, human rights and the rule of law.

“Our Muslim brothers and sisters in Kosovo would expect nothing less from us, as, I believe, do the people of the Maldives, who themselves have struggled over recent years to have a fair and just stake in their own future.”

(Reporting by Lawrence Marzouk)