Kosovo government says municipalities in the north to be functional

The oath before the municipal assembly of the mayor-elect is a solemn procedure marking taking office.

Minister Krasniqi told Free Europe Radio on Monday, 22 May, all information will be given about when and where municipal assembly sessions will be held in the municipalities of Zubin Potok, Leposaviq and Zvecan.

However, he stressed that locations for holding sessions have not yet been exacted.

“Ende not. We're under way. The teams are working to define all these processes”, Krasniqi said.

So far, the solemn oath before the Municipal Assembly has been taken only by the new chairman of North Mitrovica, Erden Attic, on May 19th.

The elected mayors of three other northern Kosovo municipalities -- inhabited by Serb majority -- Izmir Zeqiri in Zubin Potok, Lulzim Hetemi in Leposaviq and Ilir Peci in Zvecan -- have not yet taken the solemn oath.

Unlike Zubin Potoku, who has a functional municipal assembly, two other municipalities -- Leposaviqi and Zvecan -- still do not have them functional.

Mayors of municipalities cannot perform the oath without the functioning of municipal assemblies, before which they solemnly take office.

Minister Krasniqi has not provided details about how they will be functional and in which objects, as well as where infrastructure will function that enables the work of municipal institutions.

The North Mitrovica municipality has its own object, while in the other three municipalities so far, municipal facilities have operated on municipal institutions according to the Kosovo system, but also the so-called temporary organs, which work according to Serbia's system.

The elections for the mayors of four municipalities in northern Kosovo were held on April 23rd, after the preliminary leaders from the largest Serbian party in Kosovo, the Serbian List, resigned last year's November.

They left the institutions in disappointment with a Kosovo Government decision on reregistering vehicles carrying illegal plates issued by Serbia, on legal RKS RKS CHA plates Kosovo Republic.

Members of the Serb community widely boycotted the April elections and said they do not accept the results, young leaders from the Albanian community respectively.