ECMI Kosovo has become aware of several incidents involving minority communities, most of which are clearly ethnically motivated. The incidents include damage to private property and stone-throwing at homes owned by Kosovo Serbs. ECMI Kosovo would like to take the opportunity to condemn them and call on the police authorities to investigate these incidents and, where appropriate, apprehend their perpetrators.

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On 14 October, the football match between Albania and Serbia was abandoned after the 41’ minute, due to clashes that occurred after a drone carrying an unofficial Albanian flag with the inscription ‘Autochthonous’, showing territories not part of the Republic of Albania, appeared on the football pitch. Following this, there were clashes between players, as well as with several fans who broke onto the pitch.
In the aftermath of the game, there have already been several gatherings of many youths in city centers. This has resulted in increased tensions throughout Kosovo, notably in the municipalities of Rahovec/Orahovac, Mitrovicë/Mitrovica and Kamenicë/Kamenica. In Mitrovicë/Mitrovica, there were reports of antagonistic crowds gathering on both sides of the Ibar/Ibër River. Luckily, no major incidents have been reported so far in Kosovo, though tensions remain high.

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On September 4th, the mayor of Mitrovica/Mitrovicë North, Goran Rakić, announced that the Kosovo police and EULEX had informed him of an assassination plot directed at him. The police allegedly have arrested one member of the Kosovo Albanian community involved in the plot. There is now a police car stationed outside the house of the mayor. Mayor Rakić stated that he has full confidence in the Kosovo police to properly handle the situation.

In a separate, unrelated, incident on August 28th, one Kosovo Albanian man was shot and killed, while two others were injured, near Kolloverga/Koshtova, a Kosovo Albanian village close to the Serb-majority municipality of Zubin Potok. One of the victims reported that the shooting was initiated by a man wearing a Serbian army uniform. This incident occurred the day after a member of the Serbian special police unit, the Gendarmerie, was shot and killed near the Kosovo-Serbia border.

Since February 2014, ECMI Kosovo has worked to reinforce the economic attractiveness and promote local tourism and agriculture in the Serb-majority municipalities of Gračanica/Graçanicë, Novo Brdo/Novobërdë, Klokot/Kllokot, Parteš/Partesh, Ranilug/Ranillug and Štrpce/Shtërpcë, through the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finlandfunded project ‘Towards Sustainable and Inclusive Growth for All Newly-established Municipalities in Kosovo (TSIGAN)’. To achieve these goals, ECMI Kosovo has been committed, on the one hand, to strengthening the existing structures that promote tourism and agriculture in some municipalities and, on the other hand, creating the necessary conditions required for their establishment in the municipalities where they are not yet present.

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This legal handbook provides an overview and assessment of the central and local-level legal framework in the five newly-established municipalities of Gračanica/Graçanicë, Klokot/Kllokot, Novo Brdo/Novobërdë, Parteš /Partesh, and Ranilug /Ranillug, related to local economic development; land use and expropriation; registration, inspection and taxation of private enterprises; and issues related to publicly-owned enterprises, public property and public services.

Today, on Human Rights Day, the European Centre for Minority Issues (ECMI) Kosovo would like to reiterate its unwavering support for the advancement of human rights and minority rights in Kosovo. An organisation dedicated to fighting for the human rights of all citizens, particularly those belonging to minority communities, ECMI Kosovo would also like to call on government institutions and the international community to strengthen their efforts to respect, protect and fulfill human rights in Kosovo.