If the Kosovo institutions do not respect the Brussels Agreement, they will open a new crisis, said Ljubomir Maric.
If the Kosovo institutions in the course of the day do not adopt budgets of four municipalities in northern Kosovo for 2015, there are legal possibilities for Pristina to impose provisional measures.
Specifically, based on Kosovo law, employees of the Ministry of Finance have the right to appoint a financial administrator, who will be tasked to provide employees of the municipality salaries and deal with current tasks. At the same time, along with the activities of the Ministry of Finance, the Central Election Commission should then conduct a procedure in conjunction with the announcement of new local elections.
This would mean that if today Pristina does not accept the “revised” budget for northern Mitrovica, Zvecan/Zveqan, Leposavic/Leposaviq and Zubin Potok, whose representatives did not accept (in accordance with the Brussels agreement) to incorporate into the budget and employed in healthcare and education, on the horizon are new, early elections in municipalities whose citizens for the first time participated in elections in November 2013.
Ljubomir Maric, Minister for Local Self-Government in the government of Isa Mustafa, said to Politika that he still believes that there would not be new elections because Pristina should “respect the Brussels Agreement signed in April 2013, to take into account the political processes which are being conducted between the negotiating parties, and not to ignore the fact that municipalities in the north did not come to life at full capacity.”
– It is well known that the municipalities after the original version of the budget have submitted the Ministry of Finance a new version, on October 30 last year, in consultation with representatives of the international community and representatives of Pristina. On the basis of the Brussels Agreement, and the subsequent negotiations, it is known that health care and education are not financed by the Kosovo institutions, it is provided that the workers of these segments are financed through the Community of Serbian municipalities, and in accordance with the laws of Kosovo – says Maric to Politika, adding that representatives of the municipalities in northern Kosovo surrendered “legitimate” lists.
The Mayor of Leposavic/Leposaviq, Dragan Jablanovic said to Politika that budgets of municipalities that were harmonized “with representatives of Pristina” were submitted to Pristina, and that the budgets compared to the original version were “decimated” and were reduced by several million, but that Kosovo institutions “deliberately overlook”.
– Everything is done in accordance with the Treaty of Brussels and agreement with representatives of Pristina. Our budgets are no longer able to tolerate changes. After all, the question is how future trust Pristina, which violates its own laws, which in this particular case, in terms of budget, obviously – says Jablanović.
– Everything is done in accordance with the Brussels Agreement and agreement with representatives of Pristina. Our budgets are no longer able to tolerate changes. After all, the question is how in future to have trust in Pristina, which violates its own laws, which in this particular case, in terms of budget, is obvious – says Jablanovic.
