Second session of the Municipal Assembly of North Mitrovica: Decision on new street names annulled, withdrawal from the Association of Kosovo Municipalities reconfirmed

The second regular session of the Municipal Assembly of North Mitrovica was held today. At the session, by 12 votes in favor and two abstentions, a decision was adopted to annul the previously adopted decisions on the naming of streets in North Mitrovica. Following this agenda item, councilors once again voted in favor of the decision to withdraw from the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, which was supported by 12 councilors.

Prior to the vote, Member of Parliament Ivan Zaporozac addressed the assembly on behalf of The Serb List, proposing the annulment of the decision on the renaming of streets and the establishment of a new commission for naming streets and other public places in North Mitrovica.

“On behalf of the Serb List, I propose that the decision adopting the minutes on the naming of streets, squares, and other public areas in the municipality of North Mitrovica be repealed, due to violations of legal procedures,” said Zaporozac, explaining the reasons for requesting the annulment of this decision.

“The Serbian, that is, the majority community, was not consulted about the street names. Second, no public debate was held regarding the change of street names. Third, which is very important, an examination of the minutes from the 41st session of the Municipal Assembly of North Mitrovica shows that a commission for the naming and renaming of streets was formed. The members of that commission are: Aida Ferati, Lumnik Gjaka, Adelisa Gjushnica, Gzim Alushi, and Betim Osmanic,” Zaporozac stated.

This decision was adopted with 12 votes. The proposal to withdraw from the Association of Kosovo Municipalities was also adopted by the councilors with 12 votes.

During the discussion, the Serb List councilor Sinisa Lazic also addressed the assembly, confirming Zaporozac’s statement that citizens had not been consulted regarding the change of street names.

“As a citizen of North Mitrovica, as someone who was born here and has lived here for decades, I know how street names were changed in the past, and I know that such decisions were not made without consulting the citizens. Whenever something is to be changed for the benefit of citizens, it is normal for citizens to be asked. No one ever came among the citizens to talk to us, to have a coffee, to ask what we think. Everything we heard, we heard through the media. From that, we concluded that this was a matter of the arbitrariness of individuals, without the participation of citizens, who decided what our city would be called,” Lazic said.

Marko Jaksic from the civic initiative “North for All” proposed that two laws—the Law on Traffic and the Law on Foreigners, which are of greatest interest to citizens—be added to the agenda, but this proposal was not adopted.

It should be noted that the decision to withdraw from the Association of Kosovo Municipalities had already been adopted by the local assembly, but the Ministry of Local Government Administration rejected that decision.