Municipalities of Kosovo
A municipality (Albanian: komuna, Serbian: општина / opština) is the basic administrative division in Kosovo and constitutes the only level of power in local governance.[1] There are 38 municipalities in Kosovo; 27 of which have an Albanian ethnic majority, 10 Serb and 1 Turkish. After the 2013 Brussels Agreement, signed by the governments of Kosovo[a] and Serbia, an agreement was made to create a Community of Serb Municipalities, which would operate within Kosovo's legal framework. Since 2013, the agreement has not been fulfilled by Kosovo's authorities, calling upon its constitution and "territorial integrity". Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as a sovereign state, but as an autonomous province according to its constitution.[2]
All municipalities have the following competences, as regulated by Law Nr. 03/L-040 of the Constitution of Kosovo:[13]
Municipalities with Serb majorities have additional powers over the appointment of local police commanders, religious and cultural heritage sites within their boundaries; some of them have competences over universities and secondary health which in non-Serb-majority municipalities are a matter for central government (and, through the right of association of municipalities, even those Serb-majority municipalities which are not specifically given these powers may exercise them in association with those that do).
The 2013 Brussels Agreement signed by the Government of Kosovo and the Government of Serbia contains provisions for the formation of a Community of Serb Municipalities[14] (Serbian: Заједница српских општина / Zajednica srpskih opština; Albanian: Asociacioni i komunave serbe) It was expected to be created in 2015, but its formation has been postponed over conflicts about extent of powers.
Between 1990 and 2000, in the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija, there were the following additional municipalities:
In 2000 both were merged into the new municipality of Dragash. The number of municipalities remained at 30 until 2005, when the new municipality of Malisheva was formed, by taking territories from the municipalities of Orahovac (District of Gjakova), Suva Reka (District of Prizren), Klina (District of Peja) and Drenas (District of Pristina).
