Draft Law on Public Property – a Sword of Damocles over Kosovo municipalities, especially Serbian-majority ones

While public attention is focused on attempts to form institutions and political parties trading blame, other important issues appear to be taking a back seat, including the Draft Law on Public Property, which has drawn serious objections from the Association of Kosovo Municipalities. However, concern is not limited to Albanian-majority local governments. If adopted in its current form, the legislation would effectively lead to the disappearance of Serbian-majority municipalities, Kosovo Online's interlocutors warn.

Written by: Jelena Milenkovic

The Association of Kosovo Municipalities has raised serious objections to the Draft Law on Public Property, assessing that, if adopted as currently proposed, it would undermine local autonomy and strip municipalities of ownership rights over their property.

Particularly contentious, as the Association explained, is the provision under which municipalities would no longer be the owners of municipal property, but merely its users or administrators.

Opposing what it sees as an attempt to centralize public property, the Association submitted a series of demands to the Kosovo Ministry of Justice, including that municipalities "be explicitly recognized as the owners of municipal property, that the provision stipulating that the Republic of Kosovo is the sole owner of all public property be removed, and that municipal assemblies retain the right to decide on the transfer, exchange, and leasing of municipal property."

The Law on Public Property would apply to all municipalities in Kosovo, including Serbian-majority municipalities, which share the Association's concerns and warn that such legislation would effectively mean the end of Serbian-majority municipalities.

Kurti wants to diminish the importance of municipalities

North Mitrovica Mayor Milan Radojevic warned of precisely this, explaining that transferring municipal property to the central level would mean that, for every infrastructure project or planned investment, the Municipality would have to seek approval from the central authorities to determine whether a particular project could be implemented on a specific parcel of land.

"Albin Kurti is already implementing some of his plans in the territory of North Mitrovica from the central level, completely bypassing the Municipality, its leadership, and the Law on Local Self-Government. He is implementing infrastructure projects without consulting the Municipality or seeking permits. You can imagine what would happen if such a law were adopted and entered into force," Radojevic told Kosovo Online.

He therefore has no doubt that the adoption of such a law would effectively mean that Serbian-majority municipalities would cease to exist.

"And that is the reality. Through all his actions, Albin Kurti is trying to diminish the importance of municipalities, particularly Serbian-majority municipalities, above all those in the north," Radojevic said.

He noted that even before this Draft Law on Public Property, socially owned enterprises such as Trepca South and the Ibar-Lepenac company had suddenly begun claiming certain parcels of land without a legal basis, a court decision, or the consent of the municipalities, relying solely on police force.

"They use excavators to demolish structures and seize land. The adoption of such a law would therefore be the crowning achievement for Albin Kurti, enabling him to transfer even the little property that municipalities still own to the central level, leaving municipalities entirely unable to manage their own property," Radojevic said.

He also pointed out that adopting the law in its current form would be in direct contradiction with the Law on Local Self-Government, as well as the European Convention.

"But the intention is more than clear—to completely strip municipalities of their competences, particularly Serbian-majority municipalities, which would effectively cease to exist," Radojevic concluded.

Central government wants complete control

What the law could look like in practice can perhaps be seen from the example of the Municipality of Gracanica, from which the Kosovo Government has already taken 13 hectares of land.

Two years ago, the Kosovo Government adopted a decision taking over land in the Padaliste neighborhood owned by the Municipality of Gracanica and allocating it to the Balkan Orphans association for the construction of a center for children and elderly people with autism, Down syndrome, and disabilities.

The Municipality appealed to the Constitutional Court, which postponed the measure several times but ultimately concluded that there was nothing unlawful about the decision and that it was in compliance with the Constitution.

Petar Djordjevic of the NGO Young Active Gracanica told Kosovo Online that the current government wanted to exercise complete control over the entire territory of Kosovo, leaving local governments with no say in how they manage their property and land currently under their ownership.

He added that such an intention had been clearly demonstrated precisely in the case of the Municipality of Gracanica.

"I think that, through this law, the Government is trying in some way to legalize decisions such as that one and to ensure that, in the future, the property of municipalities—not only Serbian-majority municipalities, but others as well—is managed in the manner the Kosovo authorities see fit," Djordjevic told Kosovo Online.