The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Community Affairs and Cooperation is holding a meeting with the Municipal Offices for Communities and Return, focusing on the challenges faced by communities in Kosovo and the need for greater coordination between central and local institutions.

Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti said that the executive would work to improve coordination with municipal institutions, stressing that the state must always serve its citizens.

“Today’s meeting serves to examine the responsibility of institutions in implementing community rights and the importance of cooperation between the central and local levels. These rights should not be viewed solely in terms of implementing constitutional provisions, but also in terms of the concrete benefits they provide to citizens. Often, the challenge lies precisely in implementing guaranteed rights and in the impact they should have on citizens’ lives. Municipal Offices for Communities and Return must maintain continuous communication with communities, as many issues affecting them are addressed at the local level. Education, healthcare, social protection, housing and participation in decision-making require measures to address recurring problems and interventions tailored to people’s needs. For this reason, institutions need more accurate data on the situation on the ground. One of the issues we need to address is institutional coordination. It is essential that information not remain confined within just one institutional level,” Kurti said.

Acting Deputy Prime Minister Fikrim Danka stressed that guaranteeing and promoting community rights is a shared responsibility of central and local institutions.

“Kosovo has a strong constitutional basis for the protection and promotion of communities. However, beyond the legal guarantee of rights, the measure of success is their realization by citizens. Citizens must be able to access the services guaranteed to them by the state. We must exchange good practices and ensure that policies and programs developed at the central level reach citizens at the local level. Likewise, the policies and opportunities offered by the government must be accessible to communities. Today, we aim to identify the obstacles and areas where cooperation with institutions needs to be strengthened. Protecting and promoting community rights is the responsibility of both the central and local levels,” he added.

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The Kosovar executive has approved a series of decisions, among which the approval of the agreement for the expansion of the central heating network in the capital stands out, a project supported by a grant of 17.2 million euros.

Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti described this agreement, which will be signed between the Ministry of Finance, the company “Termokos” and the European Investment Bank, as one of the most vital infrastructure initiatives in the energy sector.

According to him, this action paves the way for the finalization of a crucial financial partnership to advance a project with concrete consequences in improving residents’ lives.

On his part, acting Minister of Finance Hekuran Murati stressed that this investment will make the percentage of citizens covered by central heating in Prishtina exceed the 50 percent threshold. He added that the initiative aims to extend pipelines to new neighborhoods and users, significantly increasing the quality and reliability of the service. Moreover, Murati highlighted that the project is expected to make a significant contribution to the fight against air pollution, by reducing dependence on electricity and other fuels for heating.

At the same meeting, the Government also gave consent for the International Agreement with the European Union for participation in the “EU Roam Like Home” area, a necessary step for the full implementation of European roaming legislation.

Also, the request of the Kosovo Forestry Agency for the leasing of an area for the extraction and processing of limestone was approved, with a 15-year term. The list of approved acts also includes the Draft Regulation on recruitment procedures for firefighters, the decision to transfer to the Ministry of Justice a plot of about 30 ares owned by the Forestry Enterprise in Prizren, as well as the Framework for Building Digital Capacities in the central administration.

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