Prishtina, 3 October, 2023
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, together with the Deputy Prime Minister for Minority Affairs and Human Rights, Mrs. Emilija Redzepi and the Minister for Communities and Return, Nenad Rashiq, met the municipal officials for Communities and Return, an event that was held under the organization of the Office for Community Affairs of the Prime Minister’s Office.
Prime Minister Kurti started his speech with the statement of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the USA, that “the best government is the one that is closest to the people”. He then added that “to be as close as possible to the people, we need structures and individuals engaged at the local level, therefore, we are grateful that we have you as municipal officials for communities and return, close to the citizens in our municipalities”.
Furthermore, Prime Minister Kurti said that we have continued to increase support for all citizens. We allocated three million euros in the budget reserved for non-majority communities; both through NGOs and through direct grants to farmers, small businesses and startups.
“The Ministry of Local Government Administration has allocated one million euros for infrastructure projects, especially for communities, and is working on road, sidewalk and lighting projects in Deçan, Ferizaj, Novobërde, Pejë and Prizren and the Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure has also identified 29 projects, nine of which are for roads where non-majority communities live,” said the prime minister.
Emphasizing the Government’s commitment to improving conditions for non-majority communities in Kosovo, the Prime Minister emphasized that it was a pleasure for him that last week he was at the day care center supported by the municipality of Pristina for children in street situations, mainly from the communities, where the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education, Technology, Science and Innovation have given grants for this year.
One of the opportunities as well as the obligations that is offered now is the population census which is planned to start on November 1, which as the Prime Minister said, this is an opportunity, but also an important obligation, to reflect the communities of Kosovo as they should.
Meanwhile, the Minister for Communities and Returns, Nenad Rashiq, in his speech said that for the first time in the history of the Ministry, we have reached a great level of transparency where we even had 3500 applicants, which is a record.
He added that in the month of June, with the support and help of Prime Minister Kurti as well as Deputy Prime Minister Rexhepi, we managed to allocate an additional fund worth 3 million euros, with the aim of economic development and increasing the well-being of non-majority communities, thus staying close to citizens.
In this meeting, the challenges and opportunities identified for cooperation were also discussed; for the information campaign for visa liberalization; as well as other important topics for society in general and non-majority communities in particular.
Prime Minister Kurti’s complete speech:
Thank you Elizabeth,
Honorable Deputy Prime Minister for Minority and Human Rights Affairs, Mrs. Emilija Redzepi,
Dear Minister for Communities and Return, Mr. Nenad Rashiq,
Dear municipal officials for communities and return,
Dear representatives from the Police Inspectorate,
Dear team members for the information campaign for visa liberalization,
Dear attendees,
Ladies and gentleman,
Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the United States of America and the third President of the United States, asserted that “the best government is that which is closest to the people.” To be as close as possible to the people, we need structures and individuals engaged at the local level. Therefore, we are grateful to have you as municipal officials for communities and return, close to the citizens in our municipalities.
For this we have organized this meeting, as the fifth time where all municipal officials for communities and returns can gather, to share the main concerns, opportunities for cooperation, as well as the main achievements for our citizens from non-majority communities.
We have continued to increase support for all citizens. We allocated three million euros in the budget reserved for non-majority communities; both through NGOs and through direct grants to farmers, small businesses and startups. I believe that Minister Rashiq will provide more information about this and other achievements of his ministry to our citizens who have benefited from the built houses, home appliances and hygiene and food packages.
We are also committed to the communities through local government. The Ministry of Local Government Administration has allocated one million euros for infrastructure projects, especially for communities, and is working on road, sidewalk and lighting projects in Deçan, Ferizaj, Novobërde, Pejë and Prizren.
The Ministry of Environment, Spatial Planning and Infrastructure has also identified 29 projects, nine of which are for roads where non-majority communities live. It was a pleasure to be in the municipality of Dragash during the summer of this year to visit the works on the eight million euro project connecting the villages where the communities live.
We have also seen other positive developments at the municipal level, such as:
• A year ago, the recognition of the Romani language as a language in official use in Prizren, as it is in Graçanica;
• Now the northern municipality of Mitrovica joined the Association of Municipalities of Kosovo, while Leposaviqi, Zubin Potoku and Zveçani have voted to join it as well;
• we ensured good cooperation with the municipalities of Ranillug, Graçanica and North Mitrovica in the process of verification of diplomas issued by the University in North Mitrovica. With these verified diplomas, the citizens of the Republic of Kosovo who have studied at that university have the opportunity to be employed in the institutions of Kosovo and since March 76 people have applied for this opportunity.
For cooperation between municipalities for the benefit of communities, we have as an example the new bus line from Prishtina to Kishnica e Graçanica, a line which was opened yesterday. This line enables students and workers to travel with one ticket, and provides open roads for both traffic and communication between citizens of different municipalities and communities.
In order to be as close as possible to the citizens, we have also given priority to field visits. It was a pleasure for me that last week I was at the day center supported by the municipality of Pristina for children in street situations, mainly from the communities, where the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Education, Technology, Science and Innovation have given grants for this year. I know that my communities advisor, Elizabeth Gowing, has visited you in your offices – there are only a few municipalities where she hasn’t had meetings yet. From these visits, we are building bridges with international partners who have expressed interest in investing in education, or in opportunities for professional education of communities at the municipal level. Another connecting bridge is the newsletter that is sent twice a month in Albanian, Serbian, Turkish and Romani languages, where the Prime Minister’s Office shares opportunities for grants, employment, training and others from the government but also international partners, which are of interest to the communities.
One of the opportunities – as well as the obligations – that is offered now is the population census, which is scheduled to begin on November 1. This is an opportunity, but also an important obligation, to reflect the communities of Kosovo as they should. We have opened 498 jobs reserved for the communities as registrars and supervisors. We have also allocated more than 100 thousand euros for grants to NGOs – of communities to do community awareness outreach. This call is open for applications until Monday. Every house, every apartment, every family, every business has the right to be registered with their ethnicity. For this reason, for the first time we have ensured that every person who answers the registration questions has the right to have the registrant be from his or her community. To distribute this information, we need you to inform fellow citizens in your municipalities, why it is important to participate in the population census. With the information that will be collected from the census, we will have the opportunity as a state to plan properly for the real needs of our population. To know how many schools we need, how many kilometers of roads, let’s invest in the economy.
As I said, I came here to hear from you. Therefore, we are here to follow the advice of Thomas Jefferson, to commit together so that the government is as close as possible to the people. I thank you for your comments and suggestions both in the past and in the future, to achieve this common goal, to be the best possible government.
Thank you.
Last modified: October 4, 2023