North Mitrovica Municipality on garage demolition: We were not consulted, international community must prevent the taking away of our powers

The Municipality of North Mitrovica stated, regarding the demolition of garages on its territory, that it was neither officially informed nor consulted on this issue, and that the police in this case are acting as an executive authority. At the same time, it called on the international community to urgently react and prevent the establishment of a precedent by which the municipality’s basic powers are arbitrarily taken away.

“The Municipality of North Mitrovica informs the public that it became aware of the intention to demolish garages located on the territory of the municipality today at 10 a.m. exclusively through appeals from concerned citizens. Given that the demolition began at 7:30 a.m., and not at 10 a.m. as announced, it is obvious that the police intended to carry it out deceptively. Nevertheless, upon receiving the information, the Municipality of North Mitrovica confirmed these claims through an on-site inspection and immediately expressed serious concern to all relevant international partners over the direct violation of the law and interference in municipal competences by the police and central authorities from Pristina,” the statement said.

The Municipality emphasized that it is particularly concerning that the local self-government was not consulted on this matter.

“It is particularly concerning that the Municipality of North Mitrovica was not informed or consulted at all regarding this issue, which indicates a lack of basic institutional cooperation and coordination between the competent authorities,” it added.

The statement also says that, in their view, the police have assumed a role that does not belong to them under the law.

“We emphasize that in this case the police are acting as an executive authority, which is by law the exclusive competence of municipal bodies elected by the people. Moreover, such activities carried out by the police, without the involvement of local self-government, represent an additional violation of the principles of transparency, legality, and protection of citizens’ interests,” the statement said.

The Municipality of North Mitrovica, it added, has consistently called on all competent institutions to refrain from unilateral actions and to urgently establish dialogue with local self-government so that all disputed issues can be resolved in accordance with the law and in the interest of citizens.

“On this occasion, we also call on the international community to urgently react and prevent the establishment of a precedent by which the basic powers of the Municipality are arbitrarily taken away,” the statement concludes.