Pristina, November 18th, 2025 – The Ombudsperson received the Commissioner for Information and Privacy Agency (IPA), Krenare Sogojeva Dermaku, accompanied by a delegation that participated in the European Workshop on the Review of Cases in the Field of Personal Data Protection held in Pristina.

The Ombudsperson, Naim Qelaj, said that the Ombudsperson’s Institution (OI) in Kosovo is an independent constitutional authority whose main mandate is the protection of human rights. In the framework of exercising its mandate, it has continuously received complaints related to access to public documents and complaints related to the protection of privacy.

The OI has received numerous complaints until the election of the Commissioner in 2021 as head of the OI, taking over this competence. After the selection of the commissioner, the number of complaints is now much lower because the AIP is active and has managed, with the good work it is doing, to gain public trust and inform citizens about the role and competencies it has for reviewing complaints related to privacy and access to public documents.

The Ombudsperson praised the cooperation it has with the IPA, considering that this cooperation shows a level of democratic maturity of independent authorities that, through cooperation, it increases the efficiency of their work for the benefit of citizens.

The participants highly appreciated the work of the OIK and also emphasized that the cooperation that the Ombudsperson in Kosovo has with the IPA is an indicator of institutional commitment to addressing the issue of privacy and personal data from a human rights perspective. Also, the joint work on access to public documents shows the commitment to increasing transparency and the level of accountability from public authorities.

Ms. Sogojeva praised the cooperation with the Ombudsperson in Kosovo and since the beginning of her mandate she has found cooperation that has facilitated her work towards full functionality and fulfillment of the mandate that this agency has.