Ministry launches work on setting city borders, rejected by municipality association

But the Kosovo Communist Association has rejected this process, Economics Online told the executive director of this Saman Ibrahimi institution. According to him, these can bring trouble to the country and that the issue should be expected until after the new government is established.

The Ministry of Management of Local Power on July 2nd has distributed several decisions, requiring the Kosovo Commission Association to delegate its members to several working groups, and one of the working groups is also working about the territorial organisation of municipalities and the creation of associates”.

We, like the Association, have not delegated and rejected this process because we think it can bring trouble to the Republic of Kosovo”.

He says it is a tendency to work on forming the Association of Communities with the Serbian Major (ASK). The Kosovo Commission's “Association believes that these technical groups will return political groups and require that discussions on administrative borders and the creation of municipalities be postponed until the creation of the new government and that these working groups that are dealing with the creation of associations then the tendency is to work towards the association of Serb municipalities by a majority of”, Ibrahim said.

Although he says that from MAPL these are working groups, he says they will become political groups for changing the administrative borders of some municipalities.

The “should be stressed that MAPL is called that these groups are only technical and not political, but on the basis of the experiences that in Brussels have begun all talks as technical and then are held on the political table. This working group that will deal with the creation of association, then the tendency is to work towards the association of Serb municipalities in large numbers. When there are sensitive issues for the Republic of Kosovo, the Serb minority usually demands conditions, and in this case may require conditions for changing the administrative borders of several municipalities”.

The municipality says they have not expressed readiness to become the amendment of the Law on Administrative Borders, and that even association in no way has been named as the prioritizing of any institutional mechanism.

“MAPL should not take this priority because it is not the demand of municipalities, it should be stressed that if we want to change the Law on Administrative Borders then this is like Ahtisaari's package derivatives.

At no forum the Communists have deemed it a priority to adopt the Law on Administrative Borders of the municipalities, but in no way have they named the establishment of associations a priority of any institutional mechanism”.

He has indicated that 15 requirements have been submitted at the central level for the creation of new municipalities, and one of them is the request of minorities living in Kosovo.

So far more than 15 demands have been filed at the central level for the creation of new municipalities, and one of these is the demand of minorities living in Kosovo. Points about territorial reorganisation of municipalities and changing municipal borders can bring consequences not only to Kosovo municipalities, but these will also bring consequences to the central level of”.

Ibrahimi said election processes can always demonstrate the implementation of projects, especially those of capital investments.

“In any election process can be resolved the implications of several projects which are pre-priced at the local level, especially those of capital investments. But political resources at the local level will also focus slightly more on the electoral and normal process that the political part of municipalities will be involved in the election process”.

“Civil staff must be committed 100% to the performance of daily work and obligations that come out of legislation in force because civilian staff should not deal with political processes and should not participate in political gatherings. Investments come from the central level and because of political engagements then there will be reactions in the implementation of infrastructure projects”.

According to Ibrahimi, there are times when at the local level it is being invested in political preferences.

“Under the Law on Local Finances, municipalities have 10% guaranteed of the total budget of the Republic of Kosovo government as a general grant, also is the grant to education, health. But on the other hand there are other projects with large sums of money coming from the central level dedicated to municipal projects, and here we can say that in some cases there is a trick that is exploited by the local level by investing in municipalities in political preferences, but this has not just happened in this government that happens in every government”. “...we like the Kosovo Association thought that it best is to become a general grant to municipalities, where the means for investments from central capital are in a joint bag and then Kosovo municipalities apply with projects and on merit basis earn those projects”.

“As far as other capital investments are concerned, in some cases there are political preferences and projects go to political but ethnic grounds. The municipalities have demanded that the central level not be invested in the base. As far as investments from personal revenues are concerned, in most cases projects that are ahead of municipal budgets and realised in full, but also so far according to information that we possess capital projects that are supported by the central level they are realised in large percentages”.