Stosic: Mayors of the northern municipalities have not justified their mandates

The Program Manager of the Center for Advocacy of Democratic Culture (ACDC), Slobodan Stosic, tells Kosovo Online that the four mayors in the north, who are approaching the first year of their mandates, have not done anything to justify their mandates, nor have they acted in the interest of the predominantly Serbian community.

"A year passes, but the mayors never do. As for North Mitrovica, I think this ruling structure, along with the mayor and the assembly, will be remembered for allocating land near the Military Repair Facility to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was a decision without any basis. Regarding other municipalities, Leposavic will surely be remembered for the long quarantine of the mayor, who self-isolated in the municipality, Zvecan will probably be remembered for yet another series of expropriations, particularly in the villages around Zerovnica, and Zubin Potok will likely be remembered for nepotism in employment," Stosic says.

He assesses that the four mayors have not acted in the interest of the majority population.

"Even their election was quite questionable, with a turnout of three to 3.5 percent. They took office without having the support of the majority population here and have not done anything over the past year to justify their mandates, nor have they succeeded in increasing their voter base," Stosic concludes.

The four Albanian mayors were elected in elections held on April 23, 2023, which were boycotted by the Serbs. The first to take office was Erden Atiq in North Mitrovica, who was sworn in on May 19, while Ilir Peci in Zvecan, Lulzim Hetemi in Leposavic, and Izmir Zeqiri in Zubin Potok took their oaths on May 25.