Sljuka: Pristina will try to challenge every decision made by the new administration in the north

Aleksandar Sljuka, associate of the NGO New Social Initiative, told Kosovo Online that the new local administration in the north will try to annul the previous authorities’ problematic decisions, but that, on the other hand, Pristina will do everything it can to prevent them from doing so.

“I certainly believe there will be a tendency to overturn all the decisions that were problematic. However, the question is how realistic that will be, given the significantly greater control that Kosovo’s institutions have established in the north. I am primarily referring to institutional control, meaning the oversight of local governments’ work, for which the Ministry of Administration and Local Government is mainly responsible,” Sljuka said.

He added that, in theory, local issues should fall exclusively under the jurisdiction of local self-government.

“Local issues, those that are strictly local, should fall exclusively under the competence of local authorities, and the central level should have no right to obstruct those decisions. However, we know the environment we operate in, and I believe that many of those decisions, even the smallest ones, will be monitored by the central level, which will try to challenge them in various ways,” he noted.

Sljuka believes the new administration will attempt to revoke decisions related to symbolic and identity matters.

“I think the new administration will try, for example, to restore the sign saying ‘Kosovska Mitrovica,’ to bring back the coat of arms of the Municipality of North Mitrovica, or to repaint the murals and graffiti that were once there but have since been covered over. So, I believe many of the decisions will fall within this symbolic sphere,” Sljuka explained.

He also pointed out that certain negative practices of the previous administration might end simply with the arrival of new mayors.

“All those numerous municipal inspections they sent to cafés, private clinics, and similar establishments, I think that will stop simply by the new administration taking office,” he said.

Still, he emphasized that the central level will continue to oversee and attempt to dispute local government decisions.

“The Ministry of Administration and Local Government, and perhaps even the Ministry of the Interior and the Kosovo Police, could, for instance, determine that something incites ethnic intolerance or violates the constitutional order of Kosovo,” Sljuka said.

He added that the decisions of the previous administration concerning symbolic and identity matters are extremely important to people, especially in such a divided society where the Serbian community is a minority and feels threatened.

“The Serbian community wants to express its identity in some way, as it used to do through graffiti. Many of those graffiti were not provocative. The previous administration changed the signs, painted them green, and replaced them with ‘Mitrovica’ only, which is unconstitutional because it does not say ‘North Mitrovica.’ Those decisions harmed the community on both the identity and symbolic levels,” Sljuka said.

He also commented on the practice of municipal inspections that, as he put it, made everyday life difficult for citizens, particularly members of the Serbian community, warning that people should not expect major changes immediately.

“I think these are the kinds of things that would, at least initially, make people’s lives easier, but expectations should remain modest. This will still fall under local government authority and remain under the supervision of the central level. For example, it won’t affect the police or the judiciary, where Serbs have not yet returned to the institutions, and it remains uncertain when or whether they will. People shouldn’t have overly high expectations, but I do believe that certain small steps can be made,” Sljuka concluded.