Residents of Rugova and Peja held a protest in front of the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, opposing the decision to suspend construction-related goods and services in Rugova.

According to the protesters, the measure is creating difficulties for residents and hindering the economic development of the area.

They called on institutions to review the decision as soon as possible and allow construction works and investments in Rugova to continue.

One of the protest organizers, Flamur Rexhbogaj, said residents were facing decisions that, according to him, treated them as strangers on their own land and obstructed Rugova’s development.

“We who never left those mountains, not even when our homes were burning or when our brothers were being killed, from this moment tell this minister and these bureaucrats who are playing with our fate that you made a decision without asking anyone, according to your own whims, and this decision is dead to us. There is nothing that can force a highlander to ask permission to live, to breathe, or to build his own home. We are not asking to destroy anything, but we will never allow a silent socio-economic cleansing under the false guise of ecology to push us toward emigration,” Rexhbogaj said.

During the protest in front of the Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning, acting minister Fitore Pacolli addressed the citizens following criticism over the decision to suspend construction-related goods and services in Rugova.

However, the reaction of some protesters toward her was harsh.

They accused Pacolli of provoking the gathered citizens by appearing at the protest. Protesters demanded that the decision be withdrawn and that she apologize to the residents of Rugova and Peja.

The situation between the citizens and the minister became tense, with some protesters openly expressing dissatisfaction and even interrupting her by stopping her microphone.

After protesters began dispersing, acting Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning Fitore Pacolli held a press conference, where she said that after the decision was made, she had requested that the Municipality of Peja draft a regulatory plan for the Bjeshkët e Nemuna area, while also offering support from the ministry, but according to her, there had been no cooperation.

During the conference, the minister repeatedly said the protest resembled an LDK-organized event. Speaking to KosovaPress, she said that was the impression she had received.

“I said that because whenever I started explaining the chronology and reached the Municipality of Peja, which since 2022 — I am not blaming the municipality before 2022 because there was no spatial plan — from 2022 until now, in 2026, the Municipality of Peja has not taken a single step toward drafting a regulatory plan. Every time I began speaking about the Municipality of Peja, they stopped my microphone, which gave me the impression that it had been organized by some LDK members, perhaps by the mayor there, to keep citizens in a situation where they do not know whether they have the right to build or not,” the minister said.

On behalf of the local community, Agron Nikqi also commented on Fitore Pacolli’s appearance at the protest in a media statement at the end of the demonstration.

The protest ended peacefully.