Prishtina, 8 May, 2024
Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, participated in the inauguration of the online platform for communities, where among the attendees were also present the Ambassador of the United Kingdom, Jonathan Hargreaves, and the Ambassador of Switzerland, Jurg Sprecher.
In his speech before the audience, the Prime Minister stated that establishing communication channels between the government and our communities, particularly non-majority communities, has been and remains one of our priorities.
“It is not enough to allocate millions of euros specifically for non-majority communities – 3 million euros last year, along with an additional 1 million announced last month, from the Ministry for Communities and Return – for grants for farmers, existing and new businesses, or NGOs working on employment. We must ensure that everyone – whether in rural areas or those who do not speak Serbian or Albanian as their native language – have access to information and can apply for these opportunities,” he expressed.
The Prime Minister also mentioned the social and economic policies and initiatives undertaken in the northern part of the country, such as mechanisms for verifying not only diplomas issued by the University of North Mitrovica but also by secondary schools teaching in the Serbian language, or providing special subsidies for up to 2000 job positions, as well as the importance of achieving the quota of 10% employment in central institutions for citizens from non-majority communities. He recalled the meetings held with the communities over the past three years, which have served in identifying challenges and finding common solutions to overcome them.
Referring to the bulletin sent out in four languages every two weeks, containing various opportunities for grants, subsidies, employment, training, or internships for communities, Prime Minister Kurti emphasized that the establishment of this platform enhances and strengthens communication and information channels.
Complete speech by Prime Minister Kurti:
Honourable Mr. Nenad Rasic, Minister for Communities and Return,
Your Excellency Jonathan Hargreaves, British Ambassador to the Republic of Kosova,
Your Excellency Jurg Sprecher, Swiss Ambassador to the Republic of Kosova,
Honourable madam Anna Rostocka, chef of IOM in Kosova,
Dear participants,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Dear friends,
Creating channels of communication in both directions between our government and our citizens from the non-majority communities has been one of our priorities. I am therefore very grateful for the help with the process offered by the online platform and by the project implemented by IOM with the financial support from the British and Swiss Embassies.
It is not enough to allocate millions of euros specifically for non-majority communities – 3 million euros last year, with an additional 1 million, announced last month, by the Ministry for Communities and Return – for grants for farmers, for existing and start-up businesses, or for NGOs who work on employment. We need to ensure that everyone – whether in rural areas or whose mother tongue is not neither Serbian or Albanian – has information and can apply for these opportunities.
It is not enough to create the legal basis for jobs to be advertised in calls restricted to non-majority communities; to set up mechanisms for the verification not only for diplomas issued by the University of North Mitrovica but also from high schools teaching in Serbian; to offer special subsidies for up to 2000 jobs in the north of Kosova; if we want to reach the 10% quota for minorities in central institutions and to ensure wide employment of minority communities, then we need to create mechanisms so that jobseekers from communities can access this support into the labor market.
It is not enough for us to identify policies, for example those to support new mothers at the most vulnerable points in their lives but we need to hear from communities how to make these policies best work for them.
So we have been relentless in looking for ways to build these channels of communication between government and non-majority communities. We have created new ways for citizens to access government services through the online platform e-Kosova, and we have thoroughly reviewed and improved it, together with the Office of the Language Commissioner when we got feedback that it wasn’t serving Serbian-speakers well enough.
We have opened local branch offices to reach out to non-majority communities like the branch pensions office in Mamusha last summer and the Kosovo Business Registration Agencies opened in January in Leposavic and North Mitrovica. In the first 3 months of this year, 65 businesses have registered at these offices, showing the appetite for the business community in the north of Kosova to work constructively with our government when the channels of the communication are opened.
I have held meetings every four months with Municipal Officers for Communities and Returns, and am pleased to see some of them here today, as key links in the chain connecting non-majority citizens with services and opportunities. These have been opportunities to share the government’s initiatives and plans – like the Ministry for Communities and Returns, grants I have mentioned, or the funding the Ministry for Local Government Administration has allocated for house building and renovations for non-majority communities, the Office for Community Affairs grants for individuals in needs, our scholarships for Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian high school and university students, or our paid internship scheme, Kosovo Generation Unlimited, or opportunities like the Balkanistics Programme at the University of Prishtina and diploma verification process, and job opportunities reserved for non-majority communities. Through those meetings we know that this information will reach the citizens who are in contact with their municipal offices but these meetings have also been a chance for me, for Deputy Prime Minister Emilija Redzepi, for the Minister for Communities and Return, Nenad Rasic, and for the Minister of Local Government Administration, Elbert Krasniqi, to hear from the ground what is needed, and how best our government can work with local institutions addressing citizens’ most urgent needs.
I have held round tables with every non-majority community in 2022 and 2023, and will soon be starting this year’s series of round tables with every non-majority community. It was at the round table last year with the Ashkali community, organized by my adviser, Artan Asllani, that we heard from a woman from Ferizaj/Urosevac about the issues faced by new mothers receiving the payments we are proud to have created to support mothers and babies in their early years. Women had opened bank accounts – in many cases for the first time, in an important development for financial independence – in order to receive their payment, but were being penalized with high bank charges that took a sum which in some cases amounted to 50% of the payment they got each month from the state. So, from the round table we have organized I understood that we need to intervene, so our financial aid goes to mothers, not to banks.
This group of Ashkali women and men were the first to raise the issue with us. That round table was the chance for us to hear the reality of our policy – and I made an immediate pledge to address the issue of bank charges which was hitting the poorest families hardest. Within six weeks, our Minister of Finance announced a change to banking regulations so that banks can charge a maximum of 54 cents a month for account maintenance. And in this way this issue got rectified. So from the perspective of government we can help others but we have to see things from the perspective of those who are in need and who receive our help, whether everything is going fine and smooth.
Last year, we introduced another channel of communication with non-majority communities from the Office of Community Affairs within the Office of the Prime Minister. We’re glad that it is now supported by the consultant working on this IOM project, and I hope that all of you in this room are benefiting every two weeks from the bulletin sent in Albanian and Serbian but also in Turkish and Romani languages. It goes to nearly a thousand people who are from communities or gatekeepers to non-majority communities, and it shares the latest opportunities – in grants, subsidies, jobs, trainings, or internships – from across our government, and from our international partners.
I am very happy that with the platform being launched today, this bulletin will become available not only via email, but to anyone who has an internet connection. I’m pleased that the platform offers such a rich array of information, about what the government is doing, but also about what NGOs do to support non-majority communities, and an additional channel for citizens to communicate with us to ensure that we keep our conversation going.
I’m grateful to be here today, together with you as part of this conversation, and I look forward to continuing our dialogue in every way that benefits all citizens of our shared country.
Thank you very much!
Last modified: May 10, 2024