The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj has acted swiftly to address the murder of two casino employees this week and has chosen to ban all gambling for the next ten years in the hopes that addresses the spiralling crime that has taken grip of the country he governs.
In a heartfelt announcement he stated that illegal gambling appears to be one of the causes of the increase in crime rate. He has associated the murder of two casino employees with gang members eager to cash in on the illegal slot machine operations which custom officials have been raiding and closing recently.
The only form of gambling he is allowing to continue in Kosovo is the state-run lottery, which he feels is impervious to crime, gang members and illegal gambling in general.
The ruling, which was passed into law on Thursday night by the Kosovo Government, was put forward as a way of, to quote the Prime Minister “strengthening public security” and he blames the total chaos surrounding gambling in Kosovo for the increase in crime.
A total of 470 gambling sites were immediately shut down once the bill was passed into law, and that will see some 4000 gambling related staff members across the country immediately losing their jobs and livelihoods.
The income the government generates in gambling related taxes is approximately €20,000,000 and whilst a substantial amount of cash for the country’s coffers it is not a matter of money for the Prime Minister who is vowing to continue to tackle crime in whatever ways he deems necessary.
However, many commentators feel that his banning of all gambling establishments, much more so the legalised ones, will ultimately see an increase in illegally run gambling operations throughout the country, ultimately causing considerably more harm than good.
