The location of the planned Štedim ski center, Photo: Ministry of Spatial Planning, Urbanism and State Property
Mount Hajla and the future Štedim ski center have been recognized as the greatest development opportunity for Rožaje, as was reiterated today at the ceremonial session marking the Municipality Day.
“This would make Rožaje not just a place of passage, but also a destination. Which would mean new jobs, strengthening tourism, hospitality and the economy as a whole,” said Almir Avdić, President of the Rožaje Municipal Assembly.
However, due to several incidents on the border, including shootings from Kosovo towards the Hajla-Štedim ski resort, Montenegro sent a verbal note to Kosovo yesterday. It particularly emphasized the importance of implementing three interstate agreements: on the state border, the opening of the joint Kotlovi-Kukište crossing, and the regulation of the border movement regime. When it comes to possible border changes, which are suspected to be behind the incidents on the border, the President of the country Jakov Milatović and the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ervin Ibrahimović believe that this story is over long ago.
“I understood that these were isolated incidents and everything was said by our MFA in that protest note. Montenegro is a good neighbor to everyone, we demarcated the border with Kosovo in 2015, this was ratified by our Parliament and the Parliament of Kosovo,” the President of Montenegro reminds.
“That document exists, it is clear to us, and I think we should not spread the word about it, but talk about projects that will develop relations between our countries,” Ibrahimović emphasizes.
Due to everything that is happening in the area of the future ski center, the citizens of Rožaje do not hide their disappointment, especially since it is a project on which, according to many, the future of this region depends.
“I think that’s very bad, that we and they should have peace, and we certainly have peace because we don’t touch anyone,” one of the surveyed citizens told TV Vijesti.
“It’s a great shame that they’re doing this. That they sent two men, a child and a man, to say we don’t agree with that, but what they did,” adds another.
“He’s disturbing, how can he not disturb? He didn’t come from Libya to do this, but we know who’s doing it and what he’s doing. This country and their country need to get involved and make sure they’re not disturbing, those bandits need to be locked up,” says one of the citizens.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, however, suspects that the entire story was opened in anticipation of the elections in Kosovo and that certain parties are using this topic for internal political competitions.
“The Western Balkans are full of political messages that are a little burdened by history, and people are trying to use those things that are good to warm them up a little in order to gain a certain number of political points with their supporters and voters,” he points out.
While Rožaje awaits the implementation of projects on which its tourism and economic future depends, incidents at the border threaten to shift the focus from tourism development to an interstate problem. Apart from the statement of the Kosovo Police for the Peć region, which claims that there is no information about security incidents, the official response of the Government of Kosovo to the verbal note is still awaited, which, according to our information, is expected in the coming days.
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