Budget Committee does not support allocating €600,000 for a memorial to children killed in Kosovo

The Budget Committee did not support an amendment proposed by Alliance MP Teuta Haxhiu, which called for allocating €600,000 to build a memorial complex honoring children killed or missing during the war in Kosovo. The proposal received four votes in favor, none against and six abstentions, failing to secure the necessary support.

During her presentation, Haxhiu stressed that, even 27 years after the end of the war, there is no memorial where people can lay flowers for the children who were killed or went missing.

Finance Minister Hekuran Murati opposed the amendment, arguing that responsibility for building the memorial lies with the Agency for the Management of Memorial Complexes, which operates under the Ministry of Culture. He added that the proposal was submitted at the end of October, while the budget review takes effect in early November, leaving less than two months before the budget expires. In his view, there is not enough time to launch procurement procedures, review complaints and sign a contract before December 31.

Murati also criticized how the amendment was presented, saying the issue should be addressed institutionally rather than through political statements. He asked what the proposal’s supporters had done during their years in power, describing their approach as unserious and election-driven.

In response, Haxhiu said the request for a memorial was not new and that similar projects had received budget codes under previous governments, including those led by Hashim Thaçi and the Haradinaj government. She stressed that, as a mother and grandmother, she felt strongly about the issue and noted that the proposed allocation was €600,000.

PDK MP Mergim Lushtaku criticized Minister Murati for opposing opposition amendments during the review of the draft law amending and supplementing the Law on Budget Allocations for 2026. He said the minister should stop repeatedly reminding MPs of what they had done in previous governments and instead focus on current responsibilities. Lushtaku added that Kosovo’s patients need greater support, as they are being forced to seek treatment abroad, and described Ariana Musliu-Shoshi’s amendments as very necessary.

Committee Chair Enver Haliti then read out the recommendation to approve the draft law with the amendments proposed by the lead committee, noting that the other amendments had not received members’ support.

The Budget Committee also rejected an amendment proposed by PDK MP Ariana Musliu-Shoshi to allocate €4 million for the construction of a palliative care center in Kosovo. This proposal also received four votes in favor, none against and six abstentions.

During her presentation, Musliu-Shoshi said she had called for the center to be built since 2019, when she began her first term as an MP, and that the need had been brought directly to her attention by citizens and through her own personal experience. She emphasized the significant need for palliative care services, especially among families dealing with chronic and incurable illnesses. She also shared her personal experience, saying that after losing a parent, she encountered the lack of such services in Kosovo, as her family had to manage the care themselves at city clinics, including the center in Pristina.

Musliu-Shoshi proposed that the funds be drawn from the Ministry of Finance’s contingency allocation, code 28900. She stressed that €4 million, though a small amount for a construction project of this kind, would provide tremendous help to many families caring for loved ones in the final stages of life. She added that Kosovo is the only country in the region and in Europe without a palliative care center.

In conclusion, Haliti confirmed that draft law number 11L/013, amending and supplementing law number 10L/009 on budget allocations for the 2026 budget of the Republic of Kosovo, was approved with six votes in favor, four against and no abstentions.