The government magnifies and appropriates achievements, projects plans in culture

The Minister of Culture, Hajrulla Çeku, and his adviser, Nora Arapi-Krasniqi, in the panel for education, youth, culture and sport held within the framework of the General Council of Self-determination, disclosed the work done in MKRS for almost four years. The pair has even inflated their achievements. They have also presented data that contradicts public facts. But with failures, such as capital projects, they are not even taken up

In a hall where there was a competition as to who applauds the most when the achievements in culture and cultural heritage are mentioned and no one disputed what was said, the management of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports presented the achievements and plans for the future. The Minister of Culture, Hajrulla Çeku, and his adviser, Nora Arapi-Krasniqi, in the panel for education, youth, culture and sport held within the framework of the General Council of Self-determination, disclosed the work done in MKRS for almost four years. 

The pair has even inflated their achievements. They have also presented data that contradicts public facts. But with failures, such as capital projects, they are not even taken up. 

"In an atmosphere full of dynamism and enthusiasm, the VETËVENDOSJE Movement! held today the LVI Meeting of the General Council", this is how it is written about the meeting of the General Council. The same sentence could be used to describe the presentation for the work at the Ministry of Culture. 

Minister Hajrulla Çeku started his speech on Sunday by saying that the drafting of the master plan for the "Adem Jashari" memorial complex in Prekaz has started. According to him, they intend to start the works next year. 
"We have restored over 100 monuments and over 50 more are in the process in the coming months and next year. The monuments were unfortunately in a state of war, there was minimal investment from the state. Today we have restorations in every corner of the country by companies and individuals who are licensed by the Ministry of Culture, and many other works in archeology with important discoveries and efficient maintenance and management of localities," he said. 

Efficient management of localities has not been done. KOHA has reported that for months in 2022 and 2023 and also in 2024, the state has left without employees and even without guards the archaeological sites where it has invested millions of euros, such as Prizren Castle, Ulpiana and even the National Museum of Kosovo. In the case of the Museum, the guards have volunteered to guard the state's most precious treasure in terms of movable cultural heritage. One-year contracts were not extended for months. 

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Čeku has mentioned that a complete transformation of the cultural infrastructure is being realized with renovations, but also with new buildings. "Renovations are continuing in the National Theater of Kosovo, but also in the theaters of the cities. There are renovations in important institutions such as the National Museum, the 'Shota' ensemble, the National Gallery, the Gallery of the Ministry of Culture and we are building new cultural centers..." he said. The Tetari building has been closed since July 2022. The renovation of 7 million euros did not start until two weeks ago. As for the National Gallery of Kosovo, it is not yet known when the renovation will start.  

"The Opera and Ballet Theater is also in the process", Minister Çeku said. This process once failed after the procedures developed over a year, due to the legal violations committed by the Ministry of Culture by breaking the rule of anonymity in public calls. This has been confirmed by the Public Procurement Review Body. 

The Minister of Culture, Hajrulla Çeku, has said that the budget for artistic creativity in the country has been multiplied and for more dignified salaries for artists. 

"Public institutions have multiple budget increases. The independent cultural scene from 1.5 million, what was the annual support in 2019, this year we reach over 9 million euros for cultural projects.

While the salary increase for the performers and management of the institutions is the merit of this government and the Salary Law", he said. MKRS has increased the budget for the independent cultural scene, but the monitoring of project implementation has not progressed. 

"We have declared the film a special sector of public interest, we have made it with a new law, we have multiplied the budget and we have made international agreements for the co-production of films", said Çeku. He "forgot" to mention that every year the call for subsidies for cinematographic projects was opened at the end of the year, making them subsidized this year. Also, the budget has not increased many times. For projects, the Cinematographic Center of Kosovo has 1.6 million euros. 

Minister Çeku did not mention that out of the 32 million euros for capital investments, which MKRS has had over the years, it has not spent more than 13 million euros. Or that only 2022 million euros were spent in this category in 3.7. 

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Then he talked about the future. 

"In cultural heritage, we move from the physical protection of monuments to the functionalization of monuments in the service of the community, tourism and the local economy", he said.  

But as if in a kind of competition for applause, his advisor, Nora Arapi-Krasniqi, presented the functionality of the monuments as something that is being done. 

"We continued with the restoration and revitalization in the entire territory of Kosovo", she said. But after a few sentences it came out in reality. 

"The next phase that awaits us is the functionalization of the cultural heritage", she said. 

According to her, archeology "is receiving institutional attention like never before". In reality, archeology until this year has not even been maintained at all under the current management of MKRS.

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The expropriation in Ulpiana and Dresnik is being finalized at the initiative of the current composition of the Government. Then, questions arose about Ulpiana, where a special inscription dedicated to Emperor Justinian has come to light. The government of Kosovo has not invested a single cent in the work that has been done there for years. The funds are shared by the European Union through a tripartite collaboration - "Ecole Normale Supérieure" from Paris, the University of Pristina and the Archaeological Institute of Kosovo. After the panel's interest in Ulpiana, Arapi-Krasniqi gave an answer that contradicts reality.  

"This project has already started in 2022, where underground geomechanical recordings were made and potential underground structures were identified where the city of Ulpiana and Justiniana Secundas was developed", she said. In reality and based on public facts, the tripartite cooperation started in 2017, while the recordings were made from 2019 onwards. Meanwhile, MKRS has managed to make the archaeological park "Ulpiana" - announced in 2016 - with a Management Plan, which has not yet started to be implemented.