Below you will find the speech by the President of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, Mr. Agim Aliu, addressed in a meeting with the Government of the Republic of Kosovo.
Honorable Prime Minister Kurti;
Dear Ministers of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo;
Respected Mayors of the Municipalities and representatives of the Kosovo Municipalities;
Ladies and gentleman!
At the beginning of my speech, by representing the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, I want to express our gratitude for arranging this meeting, where we have the opportunity for the two levels of governance, the local and the central, to discuss and present common challenges, to get the proper institutional attention.
We, the Mayors of the Municipalities, with you Mr. Prime Minister, we have held several meetings during the timeframe of your governance, during which we have presented our challenges, obstacles in terms of sectoral-ministerial actions, and for all of these, in addition to presenting them as challenges, we have also presented relevant proposals, professional suggestions, stemming from the developed expertise and regarding which they have received evaluations from abroad, the professional collegiums within the Association of Kosovo Municipalities.
Therefore, for the challenges, we have proposed solutions, but for many of them, we are still waiting to be addressed by ministerial levels within the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, knowing how these proposals, and consequently the solutions for them, affect on a large scale and fundamentally, in the daily work of the local government, and also, such are not within the competence of our decision-making, but of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo.
Dear Mr. Prime Minister!
We, the Mayors of the Municipalities, are convinced that the tradition of non-consultation as well as the communication approach should be changed, by investing in a quality communication relation by the Ministries of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, regarding proposals for changes or approvals of various legislative initiatives, which directly affect the local government.
Such was the approach regarding the Law on Local Self-Governance as well as regarding the process of amending the Law on Property Tax, for which the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, therefore the Mayors of the Municipalities, were excluded from consultation, namely joint decision-making, when it is known that this law in its current state damages the budget of the municipalities by millions, thereby infringing the financial autonomy of the municipalities and in this sense also the municipal responsibilities, deriving less income for the municipalities, reducing the possibility for the development of projects that as a funding base have this source.
Equally challenging is the financial situation of the municipalities due to the burden of obligations as a result of the Collective Contracts, and to address this challenge, we have requested that the central decision-making institutions allocate an additional budget to ease this financial burden on the municipalities, although we are notified of the termination of these contracts, but many of the obligations are still in process and almost all of them in enforcement procedures, causing systematic irregularities in the municipal budgets.
The Mayors of the Municipalities, through the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, have also insisted on the possibility for the establishment of local public enterprises in accordance with the law on public enterprises, as a necessity to increase the quality and expand the range of services for citizens, but as such, it has not yet been processed according to this proposal from the ministerial level.
Dear Prime Minister Mr. Kurti!
Dear attendees!
Even in terms of budget planning for the year 2024, the ceilings set by the Ministry of Finance, Labor and Transfers have caused significant cuts in the municipal budgets, in the category of capital investments, which defines the year 2024, with less capital investments.
Likewise, for the distribution of public funds through various projects from the Ministries of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, we have constantly insisted that they be done with clear measuring parameters, without the need for favoritism, judged by the weight, need and importance they these projects represent for the citizens of the respective municipalities.
In this context, we requested the creation of the Fourth Grant for capital investments in municipalities, where our proposal is that over 100 million euros dedicated to capital investments in municipalities, be allocated directly to the municipalities and not through the relevant ministries, to ultimately guarantee the neutrality and equality for the municipalities in terms of the development of capital projects, with central funding.
A challenging issue and an additional financial burden for insufficient municipal budgets are the obligations that we have recently been informed about, which are provided by the Draft Law On Social Housing, where the Centers for Social Work that operate within the municipalities will have additional budgetary costs of millions of euros, which budget funds will not be covered by the central level.
These additional costs, more specifically, will be designated to: expenses from the category of goods and services for the administrative and operational needs of the Centers for Social Work, expenses from the category of subsidies and transfers to support and finance social programs for civil society organizations with a focus on this field of activity and also with influence in the category of capital investments, meaning the construction of new centers and the renovation of existing centers for social work, all of which are foreseen according within this draft law, to be carried out with the budget of the municipalities, that is, without allocating additional budget from the Government to implement without obstacles this legal basis in this area so sensitive for society.
Dear Mr. Prime Minister Kurti!
I take the opportunity, that even in this meeting, to recall the topics that we raised in our last joint meeting with the mayors of the municipalities, which were:
- The establishment of the Fourth Grant that will create equality for the municipalities of Kosovo;
- Acceleration of procedures in the issuance of sub normative acts (based on the new Law on Public Officials) that regulates recruitment procedures in municipalities, with an emphasis on allowing waiting lists in education and health;
- The return of properties currently managed by the Kosovo Property Agency, under the management of municipalities, properties that have been defined and announced by municipalities for public interest and for which municipalities have initiated project procedures and notified the central level in writing;
Here, allow me to emphasize the need to take quick actions, regarding these properties, when recently, as you know, we have been selected for the organization of the Mediterranean Games, where numerous investments in sports infrastructure are foreseen, as well as the building of new sports capacities – stadiums for which we have signed agreements with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports, facts which call for an immediate response from the central level, to enable the development of projects in these properties, when it is well known that many of municipalities do not have public spaces in municipal ownership that would enable the development of these projects;
- To create legal mechanisms for the transfer of properties managed by the Forestry Agency for project development, as well as in other cases to avoid bureaucratic procedures for granting permits for the development of municipal projects, which carry the public interest above all;
- Not to allow that the Economic Zones in the municipalities pass to the responsibility of the central level but continue to be administered by the Municipalities;
- To reanalyze the Draft Law on Public Procurement for amendments or supplements because it is currently causing problems and delays at the local level in the performance of many works and the development of projects;
Finally, dear attendees!
Dear Prime Minister Kurti!
We, the Mayors of Municipalities in the Association of Kosovo Municipalities, are confident that our demands, our proposals, the needs of the local government throughout Kosovo, will have your attention, will receive the appropriate institutional response, being allies in the vision to better serve our fellow citizens.
Thank you!
P.S. The translation into English and Serbian is automated with AI.
