Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti has stated that the Kosovo Police will reduce its presence by 25 percent only near municipal buildings in the north and not in the rest of the country.
“The reduction applies to the police presence in municipal buildings and their surroundings, not in the northern part of the country, where there are still challenges in ensuring full rule of law,” Kurti said in a Facebook post.
Both Kurti and the Kosovo Police have announced that the reduction of presence will begin on August 4, after the security situation was assessed as calm, in a meeting with members of NATO’s mission in Kosovo, KFOR, and members of the European Union’s Rule of Law Mission, EULEX.
“Security is good, the situation is calm, and we can reduce some of our police presence. Law enforcement and public order are improving more and more. It’s been about a month and a half since we’ve had any major incidents or violent protests.”
The reduction of police presence is one of the points agreed upon between Kosovo and the European Union on July 10 to ease tensions in the north.
Tensions escalated there since the end of May when local Serbs opposed the entry of new Albanian mayors in the northern municipalities of Zvecan, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok.
They did not accept the mayors, even though they boycotted the elections.
For several weeks, protests have been held daily in front of the buildings, demanding the withdrawal of the mayors, along with Kosovo Police officers deployed in the area.
Another point of the agreement also includes holding new elections in the north.
Kurti said that Kosovo is implementing the agreement seriously.
“The joint observation with international factors for a significant improvement of peace and security in the north demonstrates clear de-escalation. At the same time, we are vigilant for the potential re-escalation that may come from declarations that incite hatred and the political and state aggressiveness of our northern neighbor.”
The Minister of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi, has said that early elections can be held if 20 percent of voters in a municipality sign a petition for the removal of the mayor of that municipality.
According to Krasniqi, this petition would be sent to the Central Election Commission (CEC), which would verify it, and then a referendum would be initiated with the question of whether the mayor should be dismissed.
According to the Law on Local Self-Government, early elections for the mayor of a municipality can be held if the current mayor resigns, if citizens demand the removal of the mayor through a petition signed by 20 percent of the voters of the respective municipality, or if the mayor does not show up at work for more than a month without reason.
