Will the new mayors in the north heed the advice from the US to stick to a technical mandate only?

The United States of America expected the new mayors in the north of Kosovo to assume a technical, but not a political, role after taking office, US Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier said. The interlocutors of Kosovo Online believe that they certainly do not have the legitimacy for a political mandate, however, their opinions differ when it comes to the influence of the authorities in Pristina on the new presidents of the northern municipalities.

After Erdan Atic took the oath as the mayor of the municipality of North Mitrovica, it was announced that the remaining three mayors would do the same that week.

Although it assessed the elections as legitimate, the international community is aware that the election of Albanians as mayors in Serb-majority municipalities, with an absolute boycott by the Serbs and only about three percent of voters, cannot bring about a permanent political solution, so it is recommended that their mandate be technical until finding another solution.

On this issue, different statements can be heard from representatives of the authorities in Pristina. And while Kosovo Prime Minister, Albin Kurti says that they will be "less important mayors", Minister of Local Self-Government Elbert Krasniqi says that the powers of the elected mayors will not be reduced.

Senior researcher of the NGO Aktiv, Igor Markovic, believes that some of the first decisions of the newly elected mayor of the municipality of North Mitrovica may indicate the way in which other mayors in the north will behave and act.

As he states, without executive power and administrative staff, their mandate cannot be expected to be political.

"In the absence of real executive power, as well as functional municipal administrative staff, the mayor cannot be expected to carry out his powers outside of the technical mandate, to which the US embassy drew attention," Markovic said.

However, as he states, given their announcements, political decisions are not exclusive.

"Their political action is inevitable due to the fact that they have already announced certain symbolic moves that upset the local population in advance, from the announcement of the opening of the bridge in Mitrovica to the placing of flags on municipal buildings," Markovic emphasized.

He added that one should not ignore the fact that the new mayors were members of parties that promoted certain political ideas.

"It is simply impossible for them to be completely "cut off" from party ideologies and programs," Markovic believes.

He states that, although well-intentioned, the US advice will not be fully heeded.

"It should not be forgotten that the unresolved problems regarding license plates, security, energy, and the generally heated atmosphere in the relations between Belgrade and Pristina will only further enable the newly elected mayors to make political moves that will certainly be controlled directly from Pristina by the ruling Self-Determination Movement," Markovic said. 

Analyst Nexhmedin Spahiu believes that the newly elected mayors of municipalities in the north of Kosovo, with little legitimacy, can only have a technical function.

As he states, raising the Kosovo flag in institutions in the north, which was done during Atic's taking of the oath, is the goal of the election.

"The purpose of the elections in the north of Kosovo is only to raise the Kosovo flag in the institutions so that the future mayors of the Serbs would not be accused of treason. With the agreement in Brussels on the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, the flag of that community will only be added. It is a technical matter," Spahiu said.

According to him, the statement of the American ambassador to Kosovo, Jeffrey Hovenier, will certainly affect the mandate of the new mayors.

"The US is the strongest power in the world, of course, it influences not only Kosovo but also far bigger and stronger countries," Spahiu said.

Unlike Markovic, he believes that the central government cannot "push" the mayors to assume a political role.

He also considers Atic's announcement that he would appoint directors of municipal services in the coming days as a technical process, stating that the mandate of those directors, as well as the new mayors, would not be longer than two to three months, because, as Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti say, they will soon achieve agreement on the CSM and the holding of new elections in the north.

"The appointed directors will have to do daily work, administration, inspection, and other things that have to be done, in the next two or three months, as long as their mandate will last. I believe that an agreement will soon be reached between Vucic and Kurti regarding new elections and Communities. So their mandate will not be long," Spahiu concluded.