Kosovo’s Minister of Local Government Administration Elbert Krasniqi reported that there is currently no indication that citizens in the four Serbian-majority municipalities in the northern region of the country have begun gathering signatures to petition for the removal of their respective municipal mayors.
During a press conference held in Pristina on Wednesday, Krasniqi expressed his support for the incumbent mayors, suggesting that they should be allowed to complete their full four-year terms in office.
He emphasized, “What matters is that the mayors continue to work, and the Government stands in continuous support of them to fulfill their mandates”.
At present, these four northern Serbian-majority municipalities – North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Zubin Potok, and Leposavic – are being led by Albanian mayors. These mayors assumed their roles following the April elections, which faced strong opposition and boycotts from local Serbs, resulting in heightened tensions.
Kosovo committed to reorganizing these elections under pressure from the European Union. However, they plan to proceed through an administrative directive that enables citizens to initiate the removal of their respective municipal mayors via a petition.
This petition process requires signatures from 20 percent of eligible voters in a given municipality before it can progress. If all the necessary steps outlined in the administrative directive, published in September, are met, a vote is held to determine the removal of the municipality’s mayor.
The removal of a mayor necessitates support from 50 percent plus one vote from citizens on the voter list, and new elections are subsequently held.
On October 13, Goran Rakić, then leader of the Serb List, Kosovo’s largest political party representing Serbs and backed by Belgrade, announced their readiness to participate in upcoming municipal elections in north Kosovo.
In September, Krasniqi asserted that the resignation of Albanian mayors in the four Serbian-majority municipalities was a “demand solely from Belgrade”. He argued that these mayors can only be removed from office through the newly implemented administrative directive.
Since that time, tensions have escalated, including an attack on the Kosovo Police by an armed group of Serbs in the village of Banjska in Zvecan on September 24, resulting in the tragic death of officer Afrim Bunjaku. Milan Radojičić, then-deputy chairman of the Serb List, took responsibility for the attack.
On October 12, Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić called upon Serbian representatives in north Kosovo to initiate new elections in North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic, and Zubin Potok.
