Prishtina, 28 August 2024
Dear Deputy Prime Minister, Ministers and Deputy Ministers,
Dear citizens,
Just this week, we have had the finalization of very important jobs of our government. The second call for energy efficiency in individual houses was opened: apply through the e-kosova platform and take advantage of this opportunity. We are financing it for the second time after the last winter season, with financial support also from the European Union.
After the Clinic of Urology and Cardiosurgery last month, yesterday we also inaugurated the next renovations in the Emergency Clinic at the University Clinical Center of Kosovo, worth about 800 thousand euros. The transformation in health is happening as it should be: radical and sustainable.
With the entry into force of the Law on the minimum wage, the way was finally opened for the minimum wage to be officially increased after a wait of 13 years. Meanwhile, today we will examine the proposal of the Ministry of Finance, Labor and Transfers that the new minimum wage level be 2 euros per hour of regular work, or 350 euros gross per month for full-time work. The minimum wage will be tax-free. This is the second increase in the minimum wage within this governing mandate.
Child allowances under the new scheme were also distributed this week. Families with one or two children up to the age of 16 receive 20 euros for each, while families with 3 or more children up to the age of 16 receive 30 euros for each.
As we are a few days away from the start of the new school year, the subsidy for textbooks and school materials continues. So far, a total of 194,180 parents or legal guardians have applied for the subsidy of textbooks and school materials, while a total of 171,200 applicants have been subsidized. The funds transfer process continues.
Everything is ready for the good and timely start of the school year, for which I wish success to all children, pupils and students.
After the visit to the United States of America last week, in the span of a few days, we had guests in the prime minister’s office, the head of the Central Intelligence Agency, William Burns, and Admiral Stuart Munsch, who is the Commander of the Allied Joint Forces Command of NATO in Naples.
Their support is unwavering, their cooperation is broad and powerful, and their joint commitment is serious and productive, in the service of peace and security, which go hand in hand with the rule of law and order, as well as democratic and economic progress. Tomorrow, Mr. Thomas Goffus, the Assistant Secretary General for NATO Operations, is coming to visit, today the Danish delegation of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe is coming, while next week we will welcome two foreign ministers of two member states of NATO. In all these meetings, of course, the issue of opening the central bridge over the Ibër River in Mitrovica is also discussed, for which we are doing all the necessary consultations, as well as our homework, such as handling the preliminary draft for physical stability of the bridge, while we wait for the final report, until the preparations for fixing the appearance and cleaning the surrounding environment. The opening of the bridge is freedom of movement. Freedom of movement is a fundamental right both in the Republic of Kosovo and in the European Union.
Four days ago, it was 11 months since Serbia’s aggression against our country, when the police sergeant, now the hero of Kosovo, Afrim Bunjaku, was killed. Serbia has not yet been held responsible for this attack and continues not to hand over its main criminal, Milan Radojciq, to our authorities. Even during my stay in the USA, in bilateral meetings with American senators and congressmen, on the sidelines of the Democratic Convention, I requested that there be more pressure from the western and democratic world, to bring to justice, against the terrorist and destabilizing acts of official Belgrade and respective responsible individuals.
Returning to the agenda of today’s meeting of the Government, which is the 218th in a row, we will take other important decisions with a direct and positive impact on the lives of our citizens without distinction. Among them is the proposal of the Ministry of Health for the review and approval of the Draft law on health insurance.
Last modified: August 28, 2024