In a move that was hailed as a significant step forward, the municipality of Leposavic, under the leadership of Mayor Lulzim Hetemi, announced the closure of six collective centers, providing new housing for 36 families. However, while local authorities celebrate this achievement, conflicting reports from the field suggest a more complex and contentious reality surrounding the allocation of these apartments, which were funded by the Serbian government.
The municipality of Leposavic issued a statement expressing their satisfaction with the closure of the centers, which had housed internally displaced persons (IDPs) and individuals from socially vulnerable groups who had been living in inadequate conditions for years.
„With great pleasure, we inform the public that six collective centers in our municipality have been successfully closed, providing housing for a total of 36 families,“ the statement read. The families, according to the municipality, now live in newly constructed or renovated apartments, which were specifically built to address the housing needs of the most vulnerable segments of society.
While this message was presented as a major victory for social justice, key details about the apartments, including when and where they were built and by whom, were notably absent from the official statement. KoSSev attempted to contact the Deputy Mayor of Leposavic, Marina Bogojević, for more information but had not received a response by the time of publication.
The municipality further described the completion of these housing units as a „great step toward creating a fairer and more humane society, where every person has the right to a dignified life,“ and emphasized their continued commitment to supporting those in need.
A Controversial Housing Project: Who Got the Apartments?
The buildings in question, constructed with financial support from the Serbian government through the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, have been at the heart of an ongoing dispute between Kosovo and Serbian institutions. Additionally, citizens have raised concerns about irregularities in the distribution of the apartments.
These buildings, located in Leposavic, Lesak, and Socanica, may contain a total of 40 apartments. According to Nenad Radosavljević, a former official who briefly worked in the Leposavic municipality, the apartments were built by the Serbian government. However, Radosavljević revealed that not all of the beneficiaries were displaced persons. Some recipients allegedly did not meet the intended criteria, and the exact identities of these recipients remain unclear, even to officials involved in the distribution process, he told KoSSev.
„Some of the displaced persons did receive apartments, but others who were not displaced also received housing. Who exactly those people are, even the individuals who were responsible for this process in the Serbian system do not know,“ Radosavljević told KoSSev.
He also pointed out another piece of information: „32 of the recipients are still receiving food assistance from the People’s Kitchen, which is also managed by the Serbian side.“ This casts doubt on the long-term sustainability of the housing solution provided to these individuals.
Radosavljević further emphasized that these apartments had already been allocated previously, under the supervision of the Serbian Commissariat for Refugees, and not all of the recipients were from the original target groups.
At the same time, he criticized the actions of the municipal authorities, emphasizing that this was an „outright grab.“
Allegations of Housing Mismanagement and Property Usurpation
The issue of who gets to live in these apartments is complicated by a dispute over property ownership. According to some local citizens and officials, the apartments have been „usurped“ by individuals who are not entitled to them. The situation has sparked accusations of political favoritism and poor management by both the Serbian and Kosovo institutions.
In September 2023, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija accused Radoica Radomirović, then Deputy Minister in the Kosovo government, of allegedly leading a group that forcibly entered the buildings and threatened residents with eviction. Radomirović denied these allegations, claiming he was responding to a request from Mayor Hetemi to inspect the buildings.
Radomirović argued that the situation was dire for local families who had been repeatedly denied housing despite their urgent needs, while criticizing the Serbian authorities for allegedly handing out apartments to people connected to the political establishment.
At the center of the controversy is the ownership of the land on which the buildings stand. While the Serbian government insists that the apartments were built as part of its commitment to support displaced persons, the Kosovo government asserts that the distribution should be handled by the municipality of Leposavic, as it owns the land.
The dispute has become even more convoluted with accusations that the construction contracts were awarded reportedly to companies with links to prominent figures in the Serbian political scene, including Milan Radoičić and Zvonko Veselinović.
Radomirović, who was dismissed from his position as Deputy Minister for Communities and Returns in September 2024, spoke earlier to KoSSev about the issue, explaining that the dispute had worsened following his departure from the government. His resignation came shortly after the departure of his former boss, Minister Nenad Rašić, from the political party, which led to Radomirović’s removal from office.
A Longstanding Struggle for Displaced Persons
The situation in Leposavic highlights the ongoing challenges faced by displaced persons and vulnerable communities in Kosovo. As KoSSev reported back in 2020, many individuals in collective centers had spent years—sometimes decades—living in makeshift conditions, with limited access to basic services. The issue of housing for displaced persons remains a critical point of contention in the region, compounded by political and legal disputes over property rights.
As more questions remain unanswered, the lives of those who rely on these housing solutions remain precarious. The search for a just and lasting resolution for the displaced persons in Leposavic and beyond is far from over.
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