Gračanica/Graçanicë Mayor Branimir Stojanovic said tonight that authorities in Pristina are stalling the formation of the Community of Serbian municipalities (ZSO).
While on the TV program “Slobodno Srpski” (Free Serbian), which airs tonight on the Serbian television network in Kosovo, he said that the problem is that institutions in Pristina do not have the political capacity or power to implement certain changes regarding legal provisions. “Another problem will be Kosovo’s parliamentary elections held this year, and no one in Pristina will do anything that would provide greater benefits to the Serbs in the midst of the campaign. I do not think any Albanian politician is willing to do so,” said Stojanovic.
The draft law on municipal elections, he said, united political representatives of Serbs in Kosovo. Stojanovic said he expects the unity to strengthen day by day, and will have the support of the authorities in Belgrade.
“It is very important that the Kosovo Serbs know what we want and that Belgrade will help us. I’m sure that Belgrade would never do anything that is against the Serbs, but will work exclusively for the benefit of Serbs who live here. However, we had a situation last year when things among us were not as they should be. There were people among us who were not able to agree on anything,” he said.
Stojanovic, elaborating on his work in Gračanica/Graçanicë during the first hundred days after which his mayoral post began, said that a lot has been done, but that it is just the beginning. He explained that an overview of the current situation was made first, which led him to believe that corruption was rampant. “We have informed the agency for corruption, but have not yet received any response from them. The most drastic example is the construction of the hospital in which more than a million euros was invested, and the building has no roof still,” he said.
Stojanovic said that he made a plan for the development of Gračanica/Graçanicë and for the Serbs in central Kosovo, and that vision is that Gracanica becomes educational, cultural and political centre of Kosovo. As the biggest problem in the work of the municipality he cited an insufficient number of qualified people.
