Moral resignation is not required by law, but reflects the level of integrity of institutions. In Kosovo, this act remains rare and occurs mainly after public pressure.
Tahir Latifi, a professor of anthropology at the University of Pristina, says that moral responsibility goes beyond a direct connection to an institutional harm or failure. It is part of the leadership role itself, he tells Radio Free Europe.
Last week, the commander of the Kosovo Police for the Lipjan region, Argjend Gashi, resigned from his position, just a few days after the death of a 27-year-old man during police arrest, A2 reports.
He requested to be relieved of duty and it was approved, after five police officers were detained on suspicion of the "negligent homicide" of the young man.
Latifi, an expert on social structure and organization, says that such a resignation of an institutional leader sends a message to the public of willingness to take responsibility - both moral and without legal liability - and not to influence ongoing investigative or legal processes.
"Moral resignation begins to increase trust in citizens, showing that people in institutions have started to feel some responsibility. So it tells the public that 'we are acknowledging that damage has been done - even if we are not directly responsible,'" Latifi explains.
He emphasizes that such action also helps reduce tensions in situations that require accountability from institutional leaders, but underlines that this practice in Kosovo is rare.
From tragedy to resignation: Rare cases in Kosovo
A recent example of moral resignation is the case of the Prizren Municipality assemblyman, Shukri Quni, on June 2.
His act followed a fatal car accident in Nashec - a village in this municipality - where a 17-year-old lost his life.
Speaking to Radio Free Europe, Quni says that he had previously raised the issue of the lack of road signage in that area in the Municipal Assembly and, after the tragedy, says that he felt a moral obligation to leave his position.
"When you speak and your words are not heard, they are not taken into account, why are you sitting idle then? I felt a moral obligation to resign, right there and then, even before the session had even started. I did not allow the agenda to be discussed - I immediately resigned and walked out," says Quni.
For him, this action was a responsibility to citizens, especially those who had voted for him.
In 2022, the Director General of the Kosovo Police, Samedin Mehmeti, also resigned morally, following the rape of an 11-year-old girl in Pristina by five suspects.
Also on this occasion, the head of the Directorate for the Treatment of Prisoners and Juveniles in the Kosovo Correctional Service, Ali Gashi, also resigned from his position.
In 2016, Xhelal Sveçla, then director of the Inspectorate in the Municipality of Pristina, also resigned, following the death of two children in a deep well filled with water in the Kolovicë neighborhood.
The deaths of the two children were accidental, according to Kosovo Police, but Sveçla said: "I don't feel legal responsibility, but humanly I do."
Sveçla - currently the acting Minister of Internal Affairs - was asked by journalists whether he would resign after the Lipjan incident, but did not answer.
Over 18 years ago, in February 2007, the then Minister of Internal Affairs, Fatmir Rexhepi, resigned after the killing of two people at a protest in Pristina.
Mon Balaj and Arben Xheladini lost their lives after police from the United Nations Mission in Kosovo fired rubber bullets at protesters.
Rexhepi said at the time that he feels a moral responsibility towards citizens and the families of the victims, despite the fact that the forces were not under his direct command.
When resignation is seen as weakness
Burbuqe Kastrati from the FOL Movement - which promotes transparency and accountability in public institutions - says that, in the post-war years in Kosovo, moral resignations have been rare and not part of the institutional culture.
She says that such acts do not imply an admission of legal guilt for an event or public harm.
"Moral resignations should be interpreted as an act of responsibility. Institutional culture does not mean that institutions react only when under pressure, but that they are accountable to citizens at all times," Kastrati tells Radio Free Europe.
Practices, according to her, show that institutional bearers usually avoid responsibility when faced with failures or damage caused by the institution's inaction.
At political levels, she says moral resignation is often perceived as a "sign of weakness."
"What we notice among citizens in Kosovo is that this lack of institutional accountability is one of the key factors in citizens' distrust of state institutions in such cases," says Kastrati.
A survey published by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Kosovo in July 2024 found that "on average 50.1% of respondents were satisfied with the work of Kosovo's main central institutions."
In 2022, the Kosovo Center for Security Studies also published a report, according to which, "citizens' trust in the institutions of the courts and prosecution in Kosovo is continuously declining."
According to that report, 13% of respondents had full trust in the prosecution, while 14% had full trust in the courts.
The most pronounced trust among respondents was in the Kosovo Police - with 46%.
Social mentality and the challenges of building trust
Latifi believes that the lack of greater trust among citizens in Kosovo's institutions is more related to the social mentality, which has its origins in the past.
"From the Ottoman Empire, 90 years of Serbia, until the end of the '90s when the war ended, then international administration... in the state of Kosovo, sufficient citizen trust in the institution has not been achieved. It is not that it has been lost, but it has never been there," says Latifi.
He adds that building a mentality that recognizes institutional responsibility as a democratic and cultural value requires educating new generations, from primary education onwards.
Kastrati shares a similar opinion. In addition to schools, she says that education about institutional responsibility should also be done through the media and civil society, raising civic awareness to demand accountability continuously and not just after tragic events.
According to her, the transparency of institutions is the key to building closeness and trust with citizens.
"We, as citizens, must be educated that these are institutions that must be accountable to us and must serve us for our common security and well-being," says Kastrati.
Reports from various international organizations, such as Transparency International, show that in Europe, Scandinavian countries lead the index of transparency and accountability in public institutions./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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