Several civil society organizations in Kosovo expressed great concern today over the decisions of the government of Kosovo regarding the expropriation of land in Zubin Potok and Leposavic, as well as over the public discussions scheduled for February 15 and 21 in these two municipalities. “We express our fear this is only about ticking the box, and not about raising essential issues such as the interests of the local community, which has a justified fear of the presence of police officers heavily armed in the area and on their property,” ten Kosovo Serb NGOs said in a joint statement. They called on the Kosovo government to stop all projects related to the property that has been subjected to appropriation, as well to launch a dialogue with the owners of the parcels in question, community representatives as well as civil society.
The decisions of the Kosovo government regarding the expropriation of land in the two northern municipalities in Kosovo – Leposavic and Zubin Potok – recently were the subjects of public attention. A total of 138 hectares of land has been expropriated in these two municipalities. In addition to several such decisions from last year, the Kosovo government made two more decisions on expropriation in early 2023.
The latest decisions and the start of the construction of a new border police base on expropriated land in the municipality of Leposavic were greeted with protests by Leposavic locals, followed by lawsuits. The European Union called on the Kosovo government to respect property rights and expropriation procedures. The government then decided to schedule two public discussions for February 15 and February 21 in Leposavic and Zubin Potok.
Civil society in Kosovo reacted today, expressing concern and protest over the decisions, as well as the scheduled public discussions. At the same time, they assessed that the Kosovo government did not follow the legal procedures related to expropriation.
“Namely, as organizations that, among other things, deal with the rule of law and human rights, we are concerned that the confiscation of private property without the consent of the owners and their participation in the expropriation process, as envisaged by Kosovo law. In this sense, we note that private P
property is guaranteed and protected in all democratic societies,” ten NGOs said in a joint statement.
The statement was signed by:
Advocacy Center for Democratic Culture (ACDC)
New Social Initiative (NSI)
NGO Aktiv
Mitrovica Humane Center
Communication for Social Development (CSD)
Association of Business Women “Avenija”
Institute for Territorial Economic Development (InTER)
Center for Social Initiatives (CSI)
Youth Activity Partes (OPA)
Forum for Development and Multiethnic Collaboration (FDMC)
They highlighted that procedures which were not respected, such as notifying the owners of parcels that are the subject of expropriation, public consultations in the municipalities where the act of expropriation is performing, as well as fair compensation to owners.
“Unfortunately, none of these steps have been completed, although actions have been taken on the mentioned parcels, including the construction of a base in Gornji Jasenovik in Zubin Potok.”
Furthermore, they accused the Kosovo government that its decisions on expropriation for the sake of „special public interest“ do not contain a reference to the relevant legal basis.
“Article 4 of the mentioned law mandates a ‘legitimate public purpose’ and requires, among other things, a direct correlation between the need for expropriation and the achievement of the public purpose, that the purpose cannot be achieved without aforesaid expropriation, and that the public interest exceeds the interest of those affected by the expropriation.”
They argued that the mentioned decisions do not specify whether the matter is urgent, nor explain why the regular process was not followed. Also, they added , the decisions do not contain any indication of possible temporary use or whether these procedures represent a permanent transfer of ownership.
Given that it is clear that the legal procedure for the expropriation procedure was not respected, the next and essential question is a question of alleged public interest
The CSOs emphasized that the Government of Kosovo has “a constitutional and legal duty to balance the public interest with individual property rights as guaranteed by the Constitution.”
They also addressed the construction of a border police base on the expropriated land, raising two questions:
What is the interest in building a border police base in a location that is not close to the border zone?
Is there a comparable example of a border police base being planned on an area of as much as 82 hectares, as is the case with the location in Dren in the municipality of Leposavic?
Several residents testified that at least part of the newly built special police bases was constructed on expropriated land.
They demand from the Government of Kosovo to “stop all projects related to the property that is the subject of expropriation, as well as organize a comprehensive and transparent dialogue with the owners of the parcels in question, community representatives as well as civil society.”
In their words, the interest of the entire community in northern Kosovo is the most important in this case, and the community has the right to its opinion and position and full information about all the plans of the government in northern Kosovo – “to avoid maintaining an atmosphere of fear and mistrust.”
“If the Government of Kosovo cares about the trust of citizens in northern Kosovo, all actions must be stopped, until the end of comprehensive consultations with the community, its representatives, and civil society,” they concluded.
A public discussion on the Leposavic land will be held on February 15th at 10:30 a.m. in the Leposavic Municipal Assembly hall.
A public discussion regarding the requested land expropriation on the territory of the Zubin Potok municipality will be held on February 21st at 10:30 a.m. in the Zubin Potok Municipal Assembly hall.
In mid-January, the Kosovo government expropriated several plots of land in the municipality of Leposavic, which cover two cadastral zones in Lesak and Dren. The land in question is actually a hill with a total area of over 83 hectares, which also includes a cemetery in the village of Dren and, according to the testimony of officials in this municipality, a 14th-century church.
The day after the construction began on the expropriated land – on February 2nd, the EU reacted and pointed out the flaws in the process. On the very same day, the Kosovo government made a new decision in an online session related to the previous decision on expropriation, practically adopting the decision on the execution of preparatory works to determine the potential suitability of one or more parcels in these cadastral zones to house police bases. According the same decision, the Kosovo Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning, and Infrastructure was authorized to carry out preparatory works for works that can be carried out without the permission of the plot owners. Finally, as part of this same decision, a notice was given to the plot owners, including the one about the discussion.
Read more:
EU is concerned over the works in LP, asks the government to respect the law and property rights
Locals protest a border police station is being constructed on expropriated land in Leposavic
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