"'We will do it, but you know, because of you'". This is what the Minister for Communities and Returns, Nenad Rashic, has declared, having been told by Prime Minister Albin Kurti, about the transfer of 24 hectares of land in the name of the Deçan Monastery. The decision of Kurti's government, in addition to having aroused reactions at the time it was made, also created reactions after this declaration, writes Gazeta Express.
The reactions came after Kurti's decision to transfer the 24 hectares was seen as a ''personal favor'' towards Rashiq.
At least that's how Driton Selmanaj from the Democratic League of Kosovo assessed it.
"Such sensitive issues, related to territory and property in the Republic of Kosovo, cannot be treated as personal favors between politicians. Such decisions should be made only on the basis of law, transparency and state interest," Selmanaj wrote.
President Vjosa Osmani's advisor, Meliza Haradinaj, also saw this issue as a matter of "personal favoritism."
"And while the public is served patriotic slogans every day, the reality comes out of the mouths of the Serbian government ministers themselves. Minister Nenad Rašić's statement about the 24 hectares of the Dečani Monastery is shocking: according to him, the decision was made "for his own sake". So, the land of Kosovo - an issue that affects sovereignty, legal precedents and equality before the law - turns out to be treated as a personal favor between the prime minister and his ministers," she wrote in her reaction.
Enver Hoxhaj, from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, also criticized the decision for "being for the sake of others." Hoxhaj said that this approach "shows the essence of a policy with feudal logic."
Nenad Rashiq publicly stated that Albin Kurti, for his own sake, transferred the land to the Deçan Monastery. Such a statement shows the essence of a policy with feudal logic, where the territory of the state is treated as property to be given away “for his own sake,” Hoxhaj wrote.
The leader of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, also assessed this case as "very low".
"What happened yesterday, and what I heard from Minister Rashiq, to be honest, unfortunately, the child is reporting what the house has, this is the house that has been leading us, so it is very, very low," Haradinaj told Frontal on T7.
Government Statements
Reactions to Rashiq's statement also came from the executive branch itself. Government spokesman Arlind Manjhuka, in his response, denied that the Government's decision was made "because" of Rashiq, but rather, as Manjhuka wrote, it was made "in light of membership in the Council of Europe and for nothing else."
"In April 2024, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, with a strong vote of 82%, with 131 in favor and 29 against, recommended to the Committee of Ministers to invite Kosovo to become a full member of the organization. The Government of the Republic of Kosovo has implemented the judgment, already issued by the Constitutional Court in 2016, only in light of membership in the Council of Europe and for nothing else," Manjuka wrote.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti also had a brief statement, although the latter said that spokesman Manjhuka spoke about this issue.
"My spokesman Arlindi has already spoken and the minister has also clarified it," he said.
After this wave of reactions, Rashiqi himself had a "clarifying" statement. Invited to Kosova Live, he said that this issue had "confused one word with another."
"After I confirmed what I did, what I heard, then... I confirmed what I said, I told the prime minister that maybe a mistake was made... I confused one word with another," said Rashiq, while calling last night's conversation with Kurti normal communication. But you have to understand that sometimes strange things happen even with the brain, a concept gets stuck in your head and when the time comes after three years to show exactly what happened at that moment, it is not exactly difficult to get every element and every small detail of all these processes right every time. In particular, these last three years that I consider as such we have been working with a high intensity. So, these things happen," Rashiq said yesterday on T7.
Otherwise, the Kurti Government's decision to transfer 24 hectares of land to the Deçan Monastery was made two years ago. Even at that time, the Kurti government's decision was opposed by political parties, criticizing Kurti himself. /Express newspaper
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