Hetemi: It's not a problem if they replace us in the referendum

Mayor of Leposavic, Lulzim Hetemi, told for Kosovo Online that he was aware of today's visit by Prime Minister Albin Kurti because Kurti had informed them about it a month ago when they were in Pristina, but they were not informed of the exact timing of the visit due to security reasons. Hetemi stated that regarding the vote on the dismissal of the mayor scheduled for April 21, there will be no problems.

"Regarding the referendum, there is no problem. The Government of the Republic of Kosovo has allowed it, and there is no problem even if they remove us. With Serbian parties participating in the elections, citizens' initiatives, and other parties, there will be three or four parties, so it will resemble democracy a bit, rather than having always just one party in the elections," said Hetemi.

The population census in Kosovo is set to begin on April 5, and the mayor of Leposavic believes that there will be no problems with that either.

"As for the census, I am convinced that there will be no problems because it is for the benefit of the citizens, to see where we stand today, how many inhabitants each place has, each municipality, because it is better to know how many registered properties, apartments there are. We now have a problem with new apartments because people have moved into these new apartments, and we don't even know who is living in those apartments. For example, a citizen of Leposavic with children lives in basements rented out," said Hetemi.

When asked about his thoughts on the threatened fines for citizens who do not participate in the population registering (up to 2,000 Euros), he said it seems "a bit intimidating."

"Well, maybe it is a bit intimidating, but I believe the census will proceed without any problems. Of course, we have challenges, but we need to fight and strive to be unified. That's how I see it as a citizen of Leposavic," he said.

Regarding today's discussion with Kurti, Hetemi said the focus was mostly on investments that will come from the Government of Kosovo.

"We talked about a sports complex over the Ibar River where the Football Association of Kosovo had previously promised to renovate football and tennis courts, so the prime minister also promised to invest in that complex," said Hetemi.

He mentioned that there are several other projects for Leposavic.

"For now, we have several projects for Leposavic, such as roads, the road to Ljesak, or a six-kilometer road that is on paper asphalted, but it is in court, and we don't know how much we can go there to work. We also have several roads in three Albanian villages: Caroj, Koston, and Bistric. Then there is the project over the Ibar, the sports complex, and the Olympic swimming pool, which were previously abandoned by former mayors of Leposavic ... So, I believe it will be good," he said.