A ceremony was held in North Mitrovica today during which Erden Atic from Self-Determination took the oath of office as the new mayor. Atic is the first ethnic Albanian president of this Serb-majority municipality. The newly appointed mayor stated that his cabinet has already started working, and speaking with citizens – as evidenced by a group of women who were waiting for Atic in front of the municipal building in protest against the fact that Kosovo Police officer, Sladjan Trajkovic, still remains in custody. Although they refused to speak to Atic, Trajkovic’s wife was received for an interview.
The short session where Atic took the oath began shortly after 11:00.
After a long wait, the newly appointed mayor addressed the numerous Serbian and Albanian media crews in the municipality hall, in front of the Kosovo flag.
Atic mostly addressed the media in the Albanian language. Serbian translation was not provided.
He also spoke briefly in Serbian, saying that there was no interpreter:
„I greet all the citizens of this municipality. Today, as the mayor, I already started holding meetings a few minutes ago. We had a lady in the office who had a problem. We started working, and I invite all citizens to come and present their problems and ideas to our team. We will try to find a solution and provide a better life for all citizens of North Mitrovica.“
Immediately after taking the oath, Atic spoke with the wife of a former member of the Kosovo Police, Sladjan Trajkovic, who was arrested at the end of last year for alleged war crimes in 1999 in Vucitrn.
Atic met with Trajkovic’s wife after a group of dozens of women gathered in front of the municipality of North Mitrovica.
When asked by a KoSSev portal journalist if he was aware of the announcement of Srpska Lista and the ultimatum issued to the Prime Minister of Kosovo that: „a decisive response from the Serbian people will follow on June 1st if this and similar actions continue“, Atic said that „he did not have time to read news and media reports“.
When asked about his future work, and whether he expects a referendum to be held to replace him as the mayor, Atic replied that „he welcomes all the citizens of this town.“
The Self-Determination candidate was elected mayor in the local elections in the north held on April 23rd, organized after the local Serbs left Kosovo institutions. Serbs boycotted the elections both as voters and as participants.
In the elections, which recorded a turnout of only around 3%, Erden Atic obtained a total of 553 votes or 66.9%.
Atic previously participated in the local elections on October 17, 2021 – as the joint candidate of the Albanian parties for the mayor of North Mitrovica.
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Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
