Radojevic covers street name signs, Kosovo Police remove the cloth: Installation of signs contrary to the decision of the North Mitrovica Municipal Assembly

After the Kosovo authorities installed signs with new street names in North Mitrovica, Mayor Milan Radojevic covered the signs with a cloth, stating that the decision on the naming of the streets was unlawful.

Shortly afterward, officers of the Kosovo Police arrived at the scene, and one of them removed the cloth while Radojevic attempted to point out that the decision was illegal.

"Today we witnessed yet another propaganda act by the Self-Determination Movement. As you can see for yourselves, they installed these signs illegally, unlawfully, and in violation of the decision of the North Mitrovica Municipal Assembly. As is well known to the wider public, on January 30 the North Mitrovica Municipal Assembly adopted a decision repealing the previous act on the renaming of streets because it had been adopted contrary to the law, as there was no public debate, there was no multiethnic commission, and not a single Serb participated in the work of that commission. Therefore, those decisions were absolutely unlawful and illegal," he emphasized.

The Ministry of Local Government Administration, Radojevic added, issued a document stating that the entire matter had been referred to the court as a disputed case.

"The installation of these signs is contrary to the law and contrary to local institutions. I must emphasize once again that the Municipality of North Mitrovica was not informed about this. There was no coordination or consultation whatsoever. Nor was any memorandum signed with the central level regarding the renaming of streets in the Municipality of North Mitrovica," Radojevic added.

He called on the central authorities, and above all representatives of the international community, to support respect for the law and legality.

"If a matter is before a court and is the subject of a dispute, it is necessary to wait for the court's decision and only then make decisions. What happened today was a pure propaganda act in the Self-Determination Movement's campaign, contrary to the interests of the citizens of North Mitrovica, who demonstrated in the local elections what they want and what they think of the illegal decisions made by the previous administration," Radojevic said.

As he stressed, the Municipality of North Mitrovica respects the law, while the central authorities do not.

"The Municipality of North Mitrovica will address the competent institutions to protect legality and ensure that, if a case is before the court and subject to dispute, no steps are taken until the proceedings are concluded. There is an Assembly decision that is legal and legitimate, and we will adhere to it. We will also inform all international partners about this and share this decision with them, just as I have shared it with you. We expect the international community to react as well," he concluded.

Acting Minister of Spatial Planning Fitore Pacolli stated that 88 streets in North Mitrovica had received new names and that the new names had been selected in cooperation with the previous administration in North Mitrovica.

On August 25, 2025, the then-North Mitrovica Municipal Assembly adopted a decision to rename 87 streets, replacing Serbian names with Albanian ones, including some of the city's main streets.

Following the October local elections and after the newly elected authorities took office, the North Mitrovica Municipal Assembly adopted a decision on January 30 of this year annulling the previously adopted decisions on street naming in North Mitrovica.