Political stalemate threatens biggest sports project in Kosovo history

Officials responsible for organising this multisport event warn that every day the delay is jeopardising the realisation of this major project, which is considered a strategic event for the state and Kosovo's international image.

Kosovo has held general elections on February 9th, but new institutions have not yet been formed. The process is mired in the election of the Speaker of the Parliament, as the party that has come first in the elections -- the Vetevendosje Movement -- is failing to secure the 61 votes needed for their candidate.

The head of the Pristina municipality, Progress Rama, says the lack of establishing central-level institutions is making it impossible for fast development of jobs to be performed for this sporting event.

The lack of creating normal central-level institutions that have to be developed for stadiums, for different spaces, for the Mediterranean Games. So every delay creates problems in 2030 because we actually had to have a logistics, a transparency, a clear master plan about managing the 2030 Mediterranean Games today in 2025. It is because of the lack of institutional creation that we have a waste of time which undoubtedly causes damage”, Rama says.

From the Ministry of Sports, they say that sending the Law to the Mediterranean Games to the Constitutional Court has halted the pace of jobs this minister has planned to carry out this year, but also years to come.

The Mediterranean Games are not just sporting events, but I think they're more than that, they're a state project. Sending the Law to the Mediterranean Games to the Constitutional Court in 2024, I think it has halted the pace of the jobs the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports has envisioned, budgeted them, and has been planning action and work for 2025, 2026, and so on. I hope that the institutions as soon as they finish this matter of forming the government and continue to move on, and I also hope that the Constitutional Court will soon have a priority on the Mediterranean Games”, Shatri points out.

From the Kosovo Olympic Committee raises the alarm, saying that in the assembly, it is seriously damaging the course of these games.

And if we don't have institutions even if this law went to the Constitutional, we'd be late in the organisation, and every passing day is in our divorce, but this mess that has engulfed the Convention Constitution, and therefore the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, only hurts the organisation of these games. If we had the infrastructure ready, as other countries have it, it would be all right because we could have organized it for maybe two more years, but as you know, the Mediterranean Games are held in 2030 and we should have the infrastructure ready in 2029”, Krasniqi says.

Krasniqi shows that the KOK has demanded from the Constitutional Court that the Law for the Mediterranean Games be handled with priority because of state interest.

“We have written a letter to the Constitutional Court that because of the pressure we have from the International Committee of the Mediterranean Games and the short-term organisation of this event, we have asked the Constitutional Court to at least give an answer and address this issue priorly because of state interest. We have received an answer from the Constitutional Court and they say that the case of the Mediterranean Games, but also of all other laws that have gone as packages, are still in the review phase and in the most reasonable term they will give answers whether it is negative or positive”, Krasniqi says.

To gain the right to organise the Mediterranean Games, Kosovo has pledged to build the national stadium, the Olympic pool complex in Pristina, the Olympic village, gym and various sports areas.

In total, ahead of the International Committee of Mediterranean Games, the Government of Kosovo has pledged 250m euros in infrastructure investments Sports. /Periscopi/