Kurti: We will not share Gazivode with anyone, with this government there will be no Community

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti stated tonight at a rally in South Mitrovica that the situation in the north has changed for the better during his term and promised that, with him as prime minister, there will be no Community of Serb Municipalities, Koha reports.

Kurti called on citizens to vote to "ensure that things remain in their place".

He promised that there will be no "community", the Serbian term for the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, which Kosovo and Serbia agreed to in 2013 and in two subsequent agreements, including one during his current term.

"Today, anyone can go, at any time, to the other side of the Ibar River, to work, rest, have fun, whether during weekdays or weekends, to stay, return and return again, and especially you, dear citizens of Mitrovica. The Republic of Kosovo, with our government at its helm, says no to the Community and yes to the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, where we now also have our beloved northern municipality of Mitrovica,” Kurti said at an election rally organized in the central square.

Speaking about the measures taken in the north, he singled out the start of the collection of electricity and property taxes.

“For the first time in 25 years and so, slowly, step by step, things are falling into place. We need another mandate to ensure that things stay in place,” he said.

Kurti also spoke about Lake Gazivode.

“In Mitrovica we have Ujman, which has 75 percent of the water reserves of our Republic, and we will never, under any conditions or at any price, share it, because it is ours, we will not share it with anyone, because it is the property of the Republic of Kosovo,” he said.

The President of Self-Determination also listed the commitments undertaken by the government, but he also spoke about the achievements. He said that around 2,200 farmers and ranchers in Mitrovica were supported with 4.5 million euros, as well as around 2,000 new mothers and around 17,000 children.

He directed his criticism at the mayor of Mitrovica, Bedri Hamza, who is the candidate for prime minister of the main opposition party.

Kurti said that Hamza, during his term as governor of the Central Bank, did nothing regarding the Serbian dinar that was in circulation in the northern municipalities.

“The DPK candidate for prime minister and the mayor here, during one term as governor of the Central Bank, did not deal with the dinar as a means of payment. And not only that, the mayor of the southern municipality here, in addition to being governor for one term, was also minister of finance twice, and during those two terms he did not remember that there are mothers and children in this country who need financial support from the state,” Kurti said.

He also criticized Hamza for his lack of rapport with the mayor of North Mitrovica, Erden Atic.

“He never congratulated him on his victory and never went to visit him. Therefore, I publicly invite the mayor of South Mitrovica here to go north, to have coffee with the mayor of the municipality, Erden Atic. I publicly invite him, Bedri Hamza, to cross the Ibar and go to Erden Atic because there is Kosovo there too, it is also the Republic of Kosovo,” Kurti said.

Of the 500,000 votes that Self-Determination aims to win across Kosovo during the February 9 elections, Kurti said he expects 30,000 in Mitrovica.