While the public’s attention has been focused on the municipal buildings in Zvecan, Zubin Potok, and Leposavic for the second month now, in North Mitrovica meetings are held and decisions are voted in silence in the municipal building, garnering practically no interest from the public and local officials or official Belgrade.
According to the Assembly’s sole Serb councilor, aside from decisions that directly affect citizens themselves, especially in the period of the January floods, decisions that were the source of additional worry among the local residents were made by the administration. Moreover, this councilor claims that 30 decisions have been voted during a total of seven sessions so far, which are kept stashed away, saved for „trade between Belgrade and Pristina“.
Consequently, last Friday, the MA voted to join the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, at a time when the Prime Minister of Kosovo is increasingly called upon to form the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities. This proposal was included in the agenda by the newly elected mayor, Erden Atic.
In addition, at the same meeting, the mayor proposed to annex the land near the Fire Station in North Mitrovica to the Directorate for Emergencies. The councilors rejected his proposal.
Read more about the decision made by this MA:
We spoke with Dusan Milunovic about what is happening at the meetings of the North Mitrovica Municipal Assembly.
Speaking about the situation in the municipality, Milunovic says that „someone is playing pretend with the local self-government“ warning that it has been „beheaded“.
After mentioning several times that he respects the municipal statute and other legal regulations, he also noted that it seems to him that attempts have been made to change the statute. Namely, the Kosovo symbols have been recently put on display in the municipal building.
„Before SL representatives resigned, we received invitations without the coat of arms of Kosovo, now they have the coat of arms,“ he said.
At the same time, a trilingual sign that also displays Kosovo symbols was recently placed in front of the municipal building.
„In North Mitrovica, the sign should first be in Serbian, then Albanian, then English. We have a panel in front of the municipality, with the first inscription in Albanian. Next is the municipal coat of arms, for which there will be a public invitation,“ Milunovic pointed out.
He revealed that he did not react previously to all this because, as he claims, he was put in this situation by the SL representatives, by their withdrawal from the Kosovo institutions, and the local assembly.
„Now, I am there among 13 Albanian councilors and I cannot insist that they speak Serbian, some of them probably don’t,“ he says.
However, he added that this sign will be removed, and a new one installed in accordance with the statute – that is, with the inscription in Serbian being first.
Remarking that Serbian translations from these sessions are incomprehensible, and that the media are facing difficulties in reporting, Milunovic reiterated that that is something that is currently not possible to change.
„You are powerless. You don’t even have a recording clerk in the assembly. The entire administrative staff is not working,“ he said.
He added that it is also useful that there is at least one Serbian councilor in this municipality.
„I listen carefully during the sessions, I get involved in every item on the agenda. I try to influence and defend the interests of citizens. For me, it doesn’t matter who is a Serb, who is an Albanian. I come from a multi-ethnic environment and defend the interests of every citizen.„
According to Milunovic, the only way address these issue in the municipality is to return the Serb workers who left this institution together with other Serbs from the north in November last year.
For now, however, there are no indications that this will happen. „I have the sense that someone is playing pretend with local self-government because the current one is beheaded,“ he added.
„We don’t even have a budget. We have been making decisions for six months now, but nothing has been implemented,“ he complained.
As an example, he cited a proposal presented by the Albanian councilor Aida Ferati Doli to allocate financial aid in the amount of 100 euros for each child born in North Mitrovica.
„As the Assembly, we immediately and enthusiastically supported that. Children are being born, and nothing comes of it. This is because we do not have workers, it is a consequence of the resignations submitted by the representatives of SL,“ claims Milunovic.
We serve as a cover
In addition to „someone playing pretend with local self-government“, Milunovic claims that the European Union is also „playing its own game“.
He complained about the fact that EU officials, during their visits to the north, meet only with the leaders of Srpska Lista, and not with the representatives of the local government.
„Lajcak was here. Did they contact someone from the local government – no. We serve as a cover. They contacted the representatives of SL and spoke with them.“
In his words, the goal of the entire process is to buy time for Srpska Lista, so that they „pop themselves into some new story“.
Pristina creates topics that disturb the locals
On the other hand, he claims that the current state of the municipality also serves to buy time for Pristina as well.
„These people who are currently in the municipality have a strong desire to influence a positive shift when it comes to the citizens themselves, and anyone can turn to them. However, we do not see cooperation from Pristina, they use us as a human shield or a way to buy time.“
Pristina uses the municipality for political purposes, which only further disturbs the population, he added, citing as an example the decision to open the main bridge on the Ibar adopted by the local assembly in April.
„Each item on the agenda that concerned ordinary citizens was adopted unanimously. I was the first to vote. But the opening of the bridge and the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, land to be annexed to Emergencies, the return of Albanians to the north – it’s really not necessary at this moment,“ Milunovic pointed out.
The newly elected mayor of this municipality, Erden Atic, stormed out of the municipal hall, as recounted by our journalist who followed the session on Friday.
Milunovic says that he also does not know why Atic did it, but that it was a sign of disrespect towards legislative authority.
Return to institutions – there is no other solution
He claims that from the moment he decided to retain his mandate as a municipal councilor, no Serb politicians made an attempt to contact him, but ordinary citizens did seek him out to discuss problems that they were facing.
„None of the officials contacted me. I am at their disposal to discuss important topics. But every day many people come to me who are looking to exercise some of their rights,“ Milunovic said.
The problems the citizens are facing increased after the Serbs left the Kosovo institutions.
This councilor states that the resignations, especially in the judiciary and the police, have led to the fact that the people are now „in a dark place“, and repeated that the best thing for everyone would be for them to return to the institutions.
„We don’t seem to have any other solution,“ he emphasized, stating that this is precisely why he is still part of the local assembly.
„I’ve always dealt with local issues and I don’t step out of that framework. And now these are topics that can have a long-term impact on the lives of the citizens themselves,“ he said.
He praised the citizens in the north for managing to function without the police and judiciary for seven months.
On the other hand, when it comes to the special units of the Kosovo Police, which have been deployed around the town for weeks, Milunovic says that they do not deal complaints from ordinary citizens.
People in the North deserve an award for what they have survived for seven months and what they managed to endure without major incidents and major problems
Inter-ethnic relations have deteriorated
On the other hand, he says that the inter-ethnic relations that had been built up over the past twenty years have been damaged.
„The common man now looks at inter-ethnic relations differently. A Serb to an Albanian or vice versa. A kind of spite was created,“ this councilor points out.
I caught myself saying ‘Oh, they overdid it’
„Animosity has been created among citizens, ordinary people, who have nothing to do with this situation.“
Milunovic claims that the Ohrid Agreement is being implemented all the time, and the full implementation of this agreement, according to him, presents „the end of the scenario“.
„It will be rolled into a wafer and presented to the citizens through the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities,“ he said.
Milunovic, however, says that he is against the ASM, even in its „best form“, because that way „the last momentum is lost“, that is, all Serbian institutions will be shut down.
Education, health, spatial planning, and social security within the Serbian system must operate in Kosovo, he underlined.
„It won’t bother anyone, nor will it pose any major problem,“ Milunovic said.
While masked, we can just run away from here or try one last time to do something stupid
On the other hand, he also had a question for Serbian institutions, i.e. official Belgrade: „What about the plates, barricades in Rudare, area code number, electricity distribution services?“
He alleged that at the moment when Serbia should help in some way, the citizens are actually under a lot of pressure coming from the “local power players” and they are forgetting the issues that caused the whole crisis.
Moreover, he expressed regret that his interest, as a citizen of Kosovo, was being defended by the current director of the Kosovo Office, Petar Petkovic.
„I am personally ashamed of it,“ says Milunovic.
Referring to the recent arrest of M.M. in downtown North Mitrovica, as well as the protests that followed, in which dozens of masked citizens took part, he stated:
„While masked, we can only run away from here or try to do something stupid one last time.“
On the contrary, he believes that actually citizens should step forward honestly and truthfully and say that they will not allow their rights to be violated.
„To say that we will use every right guaranteed to us by the Brussels Agreement and unfortunately, the Ahtisaari plan – and all that others have accepted on our behalf.“
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