Ambassador Filippini met the Mayor of the Municipality of Gostivar, Dr. Rufi Osmani. During the meeting, Mr. Osmani informed the Ambassador about the ongoing activities in Gostivar and emphasized several moments of particular importance for the municipality such as the need for changes to the Law on financing the municipalities, in particular article 50 that relates to the debts of the municipalities, the possibility of covering the inherited debts, amounting to 10 Million Euros, by the central Government, enhancement of the level of cooperation between the local and central government and finally legalization of the illegal objects, which could be included in the detailed urban plan, but also penalize the owners in order to avoid equalization with those citizens that follow the procedures.

Ambassador Filippini expressed her satisfaction to meet Mr. Osmani and recommended him to review the possibilities to apply with concrete projects and try to get funds from different funds, including those still available the Netherlands (ORIO), which has so far supported many projects throughout the country, including Gostivar.

The President of the Council, Dr. Fadil Zendeli, informed Ambassador Filippini about the work of the Council of the municipality and expressed his satisfaction with the level of cooperation of all councilors with regards to the regional waste dump, municipal taxes and other key issues for the citizens.

Ambassador Filippini also had a constructive working lunch with civil society representatives from Gostivar, Mr. Reshat Ameti from DRAUDACUM NGO, Mr. Lulzim Haziri from ADI and Mr. Pajtim Saiti from PPC.