North Mitrovica against the will of the Serbs in the Association of Kosovo Municipalities: What does the Government in Pristina want to achieve?

While the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, which has been an obligation of Pristina for 10 years according to the Brussels Agreement, is still being postponed, at the initiative of the member of Self-Determination Erden Atic, who became the Mayor of North Mitrovica in May in the local elections without the participation of the Serbs, this municipality a few days ago became a member of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities (AKM). The question arises as to what the Kosovo Government wants to achieve with this move, pushing the municipality with an absolute Serb majority, against the will of the citizens, into an organization that has no clear role and significance.

The interlocutors of Kosovo Online say that for the citizens of North Mitrovica, this membership will mean nothing and that Atic's move can be seen as a new provocation towards the Serbs.

The AKM website states that it was founded in 2001 and that it is a non-profit organization, i.e. a legal entity that represents the general interests of its members - local authorities. Let's remind that the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, explaining why he was not taking any action regarding the formation of the CSM, stated on several occasions that "a single national community cannot be formed because there is already an Association of Kosovo Municipalities".

Aleksandar Rapajic from the non-governmental organization "Advocacy Center of Democratic Culture" (ACDC) tells Kosovo Online that the Association of Kosovo Municipalities does not have significant power in Kosovo, but functions as a slightly stronger non-governmental organization, which is not at all what the Serbs need at the moment.

"I think that the residents of North Mitrovica will not see any positive effect from such a thing and that this is just another provocation towards the Serbs and in some way cheating the Brussels Agreement. Membership in the Association of Kosovo Municipalities is on a voluntary basis and each municipality can leave it whenever it wants, so it cannot in any way prevent the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, nor can it prevent the Municipality of North Mitrovica from becoming a member of that future Community of Serb-majority Municipalities when it will have been formed. Legally, this cannot cause any problems, but we see that nothing is happening regarding the formation of the CSM," Rapajic indicates.

Milica Andric-Rakic from the non-governmental organization "New Social Initiative" tells Kosovo Online that AKM cannot sabotage the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities because she points out, the CSM is an international obligation of Kosovo that remains in force and has nothing to do with AKM. She believes that no one in the international community will see membership in the Association of Kosovo Municipalities as a substitute for the CSM.

"If the idea was for the Municipality of North Mitrovica to become a member of AKM in order to avoid Kosovo's international obligation to form the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, then one can only speak of a lack of understanding of international law on the part of the officials. So, it has nothing to do with each other, they are simply things that are not related in any way, except that there are some similarities in the name. AKM is an organization that does not have executive powers, and the membership of North Mitrovica in this Association is nothing important or big. In the Association, the municipalities that are members stand for some common goals. This, for example, is advocacy towards the Government when, for example, some issues are related to the budget. Or, let's say, in the last few months they were active in the issue of compensation for floods and similar things, that is, about some things that affect the municipalities, and about which they can agree and advocate solutions towards the central institutions," Andric-Rakic explains.

The Association of Kosovo Municipalities is a non-governmental organization and has no political significance, the Executive Director of AKM, Sazan Ibrahimi, says for our portal.

"The Association of Kosovo Municipalities is a non-governmental organization that works, lobbies, that is, advocates and builds the capacities of municipalities. Through AKM, good experiences are exchanged between municipalities, mayors, as well as directors, and municipal officials through professional collegiums. AKM is not a political organization and its mission is to protect the interests of the municipalities," Ibrahimi explains.

However, this Association often complains that the Government of Albin Kurti does not listen to the demands and views of AKM, so Ibrahimi himself stated that the Government headed by Prime Minister Kurti did not show a desire for partnership with this Association.

By the way, the mayor of North Mitrovica, Erden Atic, who brought this municipality into the AKM, won only 550 votes in the April 23 elections, which were boycotted by the Serbs.

Since he was elected, this municipality has made several controversial decisions from the point of view of the Serb-majority population. First, an initiative was launched to open the main bridge on the Ibar, then the stamp of the local self-government was changed, on which now instead of “The administrative office of North Mitrovica" writes "Municipality of North Mitrovica - Kosovo", that a few days ago, on his initiative, the procedure for the membership of North Mitrovica in the Association of Kosovo Municipalities was completed.