Northern Mitrovica loses 7.8m euros for Rakiqi's fault

The EU Special Representative in Kosovo, Natalia Apostolova, has clarified that the annulment of the financing of two projects in northern Mitrovica, the construction of the Northern University and Cultural Centre object for which EU projects would invest 7.8m euros, has come on account of North Mitrovica's chairman Goran Rakiq, who has failed to remove buildings built without permission in the vicinity of the space where these two objects would be built.

According to Apostolovas, the decision to cancel the project for the construction of the University and Cultural Centre in northern Mitrovica has brought European Union institutions to Brussels, and this decision has nothing to do with the revising of the main bridge on the Iber River in Mitrovica.

According to her, the chairman of the Northern Mitrovica municipality, Goran Rakiq, had earlier promised to resolve the problem regarding the removal of facilities built without permission in the vicinity of space, and that the issue with Rakicin has been discussed eight months.

According to her, the decision to cancel projects has not been easy, and he has followed heavy and long-standing talks, he writes further. “Voice”.

We realised there are certain problems that connect to these projects. For eight months we have been communicating with local administration in northern Mitrovica. The first condition for the beginning of the project has been to create access to the building site, which is in the responsibility of the municipality to resolve it. The mayor of the municipality, Goran Rakic, has been aware that this job would have to be done by April of this year. Unfortunately, on the road and in the vicinity of the areas where the facilities of the University and Cultural Center would have to be built, there are illegal objects that cannot be implemented. The removal of these facilities has been and is responsible for the municipality. Then communications with the mayor of the northern municipality of Mitrovica and his colleagues have all been informed of what they should do. Unfortunately, nothing has been taken. Our last move, after the deadline expired, has been to bring the senior official from Brussels to visit northern Mitrovica, which has explained the seriousness of the situation to the mayor of the northern municipality. After the deadline continued, nothing happened again. We were put in the situation that we couldn't do anything but cancel the” projects, said Apostolova, who added that the embassy of Germany and France in Pristina supported the decision..