The Community Assembly of Kosovo and Metohija (Serbian: Скупштина заједнице општина Аутономне Покрајине Косово и Метохија / Skupština zajednice opština Autonomna Pokrajina Kosovo i Metohija English: Assembly of the Community of Municipalities of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija) is a local government created by the Serbian minority in the Kosovo city of Mitrovica to represent the Serbian majority in North Kosovo in response to the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence.^[1] The Assembly is composed of 45 directly-elected representatives to coordinate efforts of the Serb community.^[2]

History

The first elections for the Assembly took place on May 11 and the inaugural meeting of the assembly occurred on Vidovdan, the feast day for Vitus (June 28 in the Gregorian calendar, June 15 in the Julian) in 2008^[3] - an historically important date for Serbs that commemorates the 1389 Battle of Kosovo, 1914's assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the 1921 Constitution of Yugoslavia signed by Alexander I of Yugoslavia, and 1948's "Resolution on the State of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia", the break between the Communist Party of Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union, among others.

Composition

The seats in the Assembly are divided as follows:

• Serbian Radical Party – 17
• Democratic Party of Serbia – 13
• Socialist Party of Serbia – 4
• Democratic Party – 3
• G17 Plus – 1
• Civic Initiative of Gora – 1
• Others – 4

DS is boycotting the Assembly for now, stating that it would wait until the new government is formed in Serbia which would then decide whether the Assembly is a good way of promoting the Kosovan Serbs' issues.^[4]

International response

The elections which are basis for the assembly were not recognized by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) or the Republic of Kosovo.^[3] The creation of the parliament has been condemned as an act aimed at destabilizing Kosovo by the President of Kosovo Fatmir Sejdiu, while UNMIK has said the creations is not a serious issue because it will not have an operative role.^[5]

References

See also

• Republic of Serbian Krajina Government-in-exile

External links

• Декларацију о оснивању Скупштине Заједнице општина Аутономне Покрајине Косово и Метохија (Serbian)
• Unofficial English translation of the Declaration on Establishing the Assembly of the Community of Municipalities of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija

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