Dr: Sali Bytyçi
fter the granting of the autonomy of the Province of Kosovo, with the Constitution of the year 1974, as one of the eight components of the Yugoslav Federation, a year later, the Association of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo was to be established, which later was transformed into the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, through the Law on the Establishment of the Academy, approved by the Assembly of Kosovo on April 18, 1978.
Being the highest scientific and cultural institution of the Albanians in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, as well as any other institution, at that time had been established and functioned on the basis of the laws of the Yugoslav self-governing socialism. But, unlike nowadays when “self-government” has no basic limits, back then, “self-government” was still controlled from above, because these institutions had clear imposed limits concerning the reach of where this kind of self-government went. In short, in the first place, the Academy was in the service of the system, according to whose laws it also functioned.
How much the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo was concerned about science and arts during that time, and how much it was deeply involved in politics, everything is well documented and anyone who is interested, can verify this, but regarding its character and its material side or, as it is called otherwise, the so-called “reward”, we will try to address this briefly.
Such academies in socialist Yugoslavia had only an honorary character. Their members were among the most prominent personalities of the scientific, educational and cultural life of a Yugoslav republic or province, while the salary received by these prominent personalities was equal to the average of the salary nationwide and, as such, it was just called “reward”, because it was a tribute to these personalities.
I shall focus again on the state of the academy today.
Several times, especially in private conversations, I have heard being stressed the fact that, in the Republic of Kosovo, politics is no more corrupt than, for example, education, sports or culture, and also that people in other fields are even worse than those who are involved in politics! This may well be true for sure, in society, politics is reflected in other areas more than other areas reflect in politics. This applies at least to a young, inexperienced society in a democratic system. It is precisely politics, this two-decade long politics, permeated by crime, corruption, nepotism, which was reflected in each and every single sphere of our life in the Republic of Kosovo, including the Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Throughout these two last decades, the Academy of Sciences and Arts became a sector of Kosovo’s two-decade misgovernment policy; it blossomed alongside this kind of politics and it was mainly directed by the politicians. Unity with politics allowed it to enjoy total freedom both in the sphere of professional work, and also in the sphere of legal self-regulation and self-functioning.
By abusing the academic freedom they enjoyed, the main personalities inside the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts violated all human ethics, by creating laws and regulations, which were never in the best interest of the sciences and arts, but simply brought benefits to these people who had unjustly found refuge there. In a situation when the politicians were only concerned with the terrible struggle for power, and the appropriation of public property of every kind, the leadership of the Academy took care to entertain itself and its members with privileges that even in their wildest dreams they could not have imagined until that time!
This leadership kept working silently, far away from the public opinion, while it changed constantly articles and paragraphs, ostensibly aiming to reform the academy, but with the ultimate goal: to put the public before the given fact.
And so, this specific goal was achieved: everything was done according to its will!
But where did this leadership rely in order to make these aforementioned changes, what laws did it rely on when it had created the Law and Regulation according to which the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts operates even today? Nobody can tell us this, but all the same these changes were made and now this academy operates according to these new laws and this new regulation!
Nowadays, the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo is an academy that mainly deals with projects! The “reward” for being part of its shelter is equal to the salary of the Prime Minister of Kosovo – 1,500 euros. The leadership of the Academy, from the president down, enjoys 70% higher specific “rewards”, based on their function, which says over 2500 euros and below! For all those who publish a book or participate in any kind of project (so-called projects!), they receive extra royalties, which can reach the sum of 200 euros per sheet!
But what about those who do not publish anything or those who do not participate in any project, or those who get sick or may even fall into a coma? Even for them, until the very last moment they are still breathing and, even six months after their last breath, they will be awarded with 1,500 euros!
So, it should be stressed that the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo has changed its character, and from a honorary institution, it has become a bearer of projects, but at the same time it has preserved its former honorary character: it now functions as a Homoduplex! Moreover, the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo from a national scientific and cultural institution, has become just a clan and a political institution, and it has degraded to the point of becoming a shelter, quite a costly one although, of people who are not distinguished from others in terms of scientific and cultural skills, but only from the closeness they have between them.
In the Academy nowadays there are no people to be honored, nor those who do implement projects; there, as in any other institution of the Republic of Kosovo, people have been introduced using means of various kinds, thanks to political, provincial, tribal and clan affiliations! What is worse, even today the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts continues to be considered as the highest scientific and cultural institution in the country, and at the same time, it enjoys the reputation of an untouchable institution!
However, this academy has many things that can be renewed, from which it should start its reform or, ultimately, its extinction. If we really want to have justice in the Republic of Kosovo, then the implementation of this justice must start from the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, then gradually go down to other levels. So, we have not to start from the tail, but from the head, because if the head is dirty, it will produce dirt continuously, while with the tail it is easy: it can be removed!
A society upholds its principles, and when the principles in question are violated from the highest levels, from the head, consequently the tail cannot be judged at all for violating them. While the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, not only violates its regulations, but it by law has legitimized crime and corruption as well. Put bluntly: today the Kosovo Academy of Sciences and Arts is something closer to a criminal organization than an academy of sciences and arts!
Is it not a genuine crime to finance in the name of science and art of people who have never done any kind of science or art of theirs? The essence of evil is not in its magnitude, but in its depth, in the radius of its action. And this evil, personified in the Academy of Sciences, at first glance not so great, is in fact one of the greatest evils in the Republic of Kosovo.
CONCLUSION
Kosovar society has been criminalized for two decades in a row, and this criminalization has not only come as a result of criminal activity carried out despite the laws in force, but also through the drafting and adoption of relevant laws, through which crime has been legalized. One of the examples, which are already numerous in the Republic of Kosovo, how crime is legalized through law, is the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo.
How did this happen?
By creating a law that essentially contains nothing ethical, which the Academy in question has been approved by the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, the leadership of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo has made it possible that:
1. The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo can change its status from an honorary academy to an academy implementing scientific and artistic projects, but at the same time it has maintained the status of an honorary Academy;
2. Each section of the Academy of Sciences and Arts can give themselves the right to propose and at the same time admit in the Academy members coming from universities or other institutes, despite the fact that nowhere in the world does a public institution propose and accept members at will;
3. Beyond what was mentioned in point 2, in the Regulation regarding the admission of new candidates in the Academy, this institution that is considered as the highest in the fields of science and art in the Republic of Kosovo, except for raising or not raising the fingers of its members, has not yet established any mechanism, as is the case elsewhere in the world, according to which the admission of new members would be regulated, a reason for which it has become a haven for people of the same political, clan or provincial affiliation;
4. It has closed the doors of the Academy to intellectuals over 65 years of age, regardless of the volume and value of their work up to this age, consequently committing serious human rights violations;
5. Allegedly in the name of “reform”, it managed to raise the monetary amount of the so-called “reward” of an academic, making it equal to the salary of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo;
6. Nowhere in the regulation does it sanction plagiarism, and consequently, not sanctioning plagiarism means legalizing plagiarism;
7. It can publish books that do not adhere to any scientific criteria, and instead of being a place where science finds its shelter, it has promoted pseudoscience;
8. It has been able to republish books published before, and not just once, for which from the budget of the Republic of Kosovo, but also even before Kosovo was declared a republic, their authors had received regularly their royalties, meaning that the Academy not only violates the regulation, but it also misuses the budget of the Republic of Kosovo, that is, to commit economic corruption.
In view of all that has been said above, I intend to make this:
PROPOSAL
The Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo should draft and approve the Law on Decriminalization of Kosovar Society. After the drafting of this law, the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo should review the situation in the Academy of Sciences and Arts and the status of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, and then bring it back to where it was before the adoption of the new law on the functioning of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo!
After returning to point zero, it should be created a new and clear law, which would be free from all these kind of anomalies that we find in the current law on the basis of which the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo operates today!