The Municipal Assembly of North Mitrovica adopted four new decisions on Thursday to reclassify land from agricultural to construction use, revoked a previous €1,500 grant to the “Šapa” Association, and discussed the issue of the devastated Tekija site near the “Three Towers” complex. Assembly President Nedžad Ugljanin insisted that all decisions were made in accordance with the law, rejecting allegations of illegality. At the same time, he criticized Serbian-language media, accusing them of spreading “disinformation” and “media propaganda,” and extended similar criticism toward the incoming local authorities, who won a decisive victory in this month’s municipal elections.
“I’m afraid to hand over the municipality”
Addressing the assembly, Ugljanin said — according to a rather poor translation — that previous administrations had left the municipality “in chaos and anarchy.”
“I’m afraid to hand it over to the new authorities,” he stated, adding:
“When it comes to running the municipality, they are at the level of preschoolers.”
The Pristina-based daily Koha previously quoted a similar comment from Ugljanin, noting that he had described the handover of “sensitive documents” to the new authorities as a matter of personal discretion.
“Land reclassification is not illegal”
Responding to claims that the new administration plans to annul the latest reclassification decisions, Ugljanin told Serbian-language media that such moves would be baseless.
“Do you think we’re doing something illegal? They don’t understand that we cannot reclassify municipal land once the president announces elections — but agricultural land is a different matter,” he said. “These are false claims being circulated in public.”
He maintained that all decisions had been made “in coordination with the Ministry of Local Government Administration,” emphasizing that “no one can annul what has been done in line with the law.”
Ugljanin further warned of “disinformation” circulating about alleged “geographical and ethnic replacement,” without naming specific outlets but saying such narratives were “mostly in Serbian.”
“We all know what the ethnic proportions were before and after the war. How many Albanians lived in the northern part of Mitrovica? Do those who speak publicly want an ethnically pure environment or a multiethnic one?” he asked.
“Do you know how many people were expelled from their apartments, and what they went through in 2000, 2001, and 2002?”
“Threats to this assembly and to me personally”
Ugljanin claimed that some individuals have threatened to revoke all assembly decisions once power changes hands but warned that “the Ministry will respond legally.”
“Most of the threats target me as the assembly president, the councilors, and the mayor,” he said. “If we’ve done something illegal, we’ll answer before the competent institutions — not before those who acted in the interest of criminal groups.”
He alleged that “in the past, people from criminal organizations made more decisions than municipal officials.”
“There will be no new Ćacilend”
“You will act according to the laws of local self-government. If you want to create a new Ćacilend, you certainly won’t create it here. There will be no tents in front of this municipality — the law and order will prevail, regardless of who takes my place or the place of the councilors,” Ugljanin underlined.
“The Serbian community still lives in fear”
In closing, Ugljanin pointed to “visible changes on the ground” — from major investments to improved roads and international donations from the Kosovo government, the EU, UNMIK, and others.
“Where those funds went before, everyone knows,” he said, adding that “fear still prevails among the majority Serbian community.”
“We wanted to free the Serbian community from fear and burden,” Ugljanin concluded.
“That fear still exists among Serbs, while others follow their democratic path. Among Albanian councilors, that fear no longer exists — which is a real but sad reflection of the situation.”
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