Todic: Leposavic Municipal Building found in complete chaos – equipment damaged, Serbian symbols scattered

The newly elected mayor of Leposavic, Zoran Todic, visited the municipal building today together with his associates and found, as he said, complete chaos and severe damage in almost all offices. In the coming days, he noted, a comprehensive assessment of the damage will be carried out.

According to Todic, the premises were left in a condition that “exceeds any assumption.”

Numerous computers and other equipment are missing from the offices, many rooms have been completely emptied, the LAN network was torn out, and among the discarded items were icons, artworks, and symbols of the Serbian people.

“We found complete chaos. What we could assume or sense, unfortunately, has turned out to be true. Knowing who spent the last two and a half years in the Leposavic municipal building, we suspected—and today we saw—what condition the equipment, premises, documentation… everything was in. Simply put, a general state of chaos,” Todic said.

He added that the public had already seen what had been happening inside the building in the previous period.

“We knew, we had the opportunity to see everything that took place under this roof over the past two and a half years—where alcohol was used, unfortunately, and some narcotic substances as well. We know that Kosovo Police special units were stationed here, and that at times this building was, and I can freely say this, turned into a kind of military-police base. We know how the illegitimate president entered and how he was brought in by Kosovo Police officers using force,” Todic stated.

Speaking about the conference room, he pointed to scattered items and emptied shelves. He recalled that the building had been renovated in 2020, with modern equipment, to ensure proper service delivery to citizens. He announced that an official assessment of the condition would now be conducted.

“I know that a lot of work and effort lies ahead. We will try to restore this space as soon as possible so that we can provide services to our citizens properly and in the best possible way. As you can see, beneath your tripod lies a tapestry from our sister municipality of Stara Pazova—now stuffed and thrown here for reasons unknown,” Todic said.

What pains him most, he added, is the large number of icons scattered on the floor, while many offices were left without computer equipment.

“What truly hurts is that the cabinet once contained many artworks and many of our icons. And here is where the icons of our saints ended up. As a person, I must say—this truly hurts. We also found empty rooms where a large quantity of computer equipment and other items had been removed. The offices are empty, as you will see yourselves. The internet LAN installation has been ripped out, torn apart, and we will have to act very quickly to make everything functional again and slowly restore order,” Todic said.

He added that a significant amount of documentation is also missing.

“Some documentation is missing as well, but I believe that in the coming period we will have an objective report to present to our assembly members and inform our citizens of what the new municipal leadership is facing—above all, the financial situation of our municipality. As for human resources, a large number of newly hired individuals simply do not appear competent to work in the administration, with all due respect. I have nothing personal against anyone, but these individuals hired in the past two and a half years do not have the capacity to perform assigned duties. So please, let’s continue to the part of the building where Kosovo Police were stationed until a few days ago, so that you can see the condition of those rooms and what some irresponsible people have done to the equipment that had been fully functional,” Todic said.

In the part of the building where Kosovo Police were allegedly stationed, he said, the situation is even worse.

“In this part of the municipal building, Kosovo Police were stationed until a few days ago. These rooms are truly devastated. You can see for yourselves where the computer equipment ended up—computers, printers, and everything else that had been kept here. The situation is no better in other offices. And because of this chaos, someone will have to bear responsibility and be held accountable—for allowing a modern, well-equipped institution to be turned into ruins, into chaos. And to answer where the equipment, documentation, etc., have ended up. I believe that my associates will soon have insight into the financial situation so that we may inform the public, review the list of employees, and see who these people are and whether they meet basic requirements to work in the administration. A lot of work lies ahead so that we can restore the Municipality of Leposavic to proper functioning and ensure it serves all our citizens, regardless of religion, nationality, or political affiliation,” Todic added.

He also noted that plaques and recognitions awarded to the municipality have disappeared.

“I know what condition I left my office in—there were many artworks, many icons; unfortunately, everything that symbolized the Republic of Serbia, Serbian identity, our faith—was thrown away. Today we tried to find out where it all ended up—the icons, the artworks, many plaques and recognitions received by the municipality and my associates,” Todic said.

He also spoke about staffing in the administration.

“As we determined today, the Municipality of Leposavic employs 139 people—83 Albanians, 50 Serbs, and six Bosniaks. At this moment, I cannot speak about their competence. There is great suspicion that many of these individuals do not meet basic requirements to work in an administration. We know well that political hiring took place here in the past two and a half years. We know that Albanians from other parts of Kosovo were brought here. So believe me—an overall chaotic situation. We do not even have personnel files for these individuals. Hiring for the past two years was handled by the Municipality of Podujevo, because Leposavic lacked the basic capacity to function properly. We will see what happens in the coming period, but what I can tell you is that today we adopted a decision—namely a ruling—to dismiss all politically appointed individuals. As of today, they will no longer be part of this administration. These positions will be filled by truly credible people—those whom Leposavic can currently offer—to restore the municipality as soon as possible and make it what it must be: a service to our citizens,” Todic concluded.