Sources told Kosovapress that today at 10:00 hrs the foundations will be laid for three four-story buildings with 12 apartments each, two of them in Kroi i Vitakut and the other one in the village of Suhodoll, in northern Mitrovica.

Sources said the construction is funded by the Government of Serbia and the inauguration ceremony will not be led by northern Mitrovica mayor Goran Rakic but by Aleksandar Spiric, who was appointed by Belgrade as chairman of the provisional administration of northern Mitrovica.

“Buildings that were originally destined for families in poor economic conditions will be given to member of the so-called Civil Protection and some of the Bridge Watchers, some of whom are not even from Kosovo but from other regions,” sources said.

Meanwhile, Albanians living in the northern part of Mitrovica are concerned with the construction of buildings in Kroi i Vitakut and Suhodoll. They argue that the Government of Serbia is doing this for political reasons and for colonizing the northern part of Kosovo with Serbs. Albanian residents also called for stronger institutional support.

Emir Azemi, deputy chair of the municipal assembly in northern Mitrovica, called for the immediate halt of “colonization of neighborhoods that have mixed population because this is aimed at changing the demographic structure and represents the mindset of the 1990s”. “Today I will call an extraordinary session of the municipal assembly in order to immediately stop this construction, which is aimed at colonizing the north and because the construction is done without the necessary permit,” Azemi told Kosovapress. He also said he will notify foreign embassies in Pristina on the matter.