A protest was held outside the Assembly of Kosovo as the constitutive session was beginning, with direct demands against the citizenship bill. At the center of the reaction was the accusation of a lack of transparency and the demand that the draft be withdrawn or revised.
The Revolta Movement gathered outside the Assembly
The protest was organized by the Revolta Movement, which gathered outside the Assembly of Kosovo building at the start of the constitutive session. The group opposed the citizenship bill and called for its withdrawal.
The action took place in parallel with the proceedings of the session, turning the issue of the bill into a publicly exposed topic from the very start of the parliamentary process.
Open calls against the proposed changes
The protesters held placards and voiced direct objections to the proposed changes. At the moment acting Justice Minister Donika Gërvalla arrived, the crowd was heard chanting: “Withdraw the citizenship law!”
The main demand was to stop moving forward with the draft in its current form, at a time when its opponents are seeking more public clarification.
Messages on placards: transparency, citizenship, sacrifice
The placards displayed during the protest carried messages such as: “We are asking for transparency, we are getting silence”, “It is our duty to protect what was won through sacrifice” and “Citizenship belongs to the citizens”.
During the protest, the quote was also seen: “If the homeland is not warm like the sun, it has no need for my limbs,” a formulation intended to emphasize public sensitivity surrounding the issue of citizenship.
Call for the draft to be revised
Beyond the chants on the ground, the protest also raised the demand for more transparency and for the citizenship bill to be revised.
The reaction outside the Assembly places this initiative under public pressure, while objections are focusing not only on the content of the draft, but also on the way it is being presented and pushed forward.
Wednesday’s protest turned the entrance to the Assembly into a point of political and civic confrontation over a bill that is stirring opposition in the public sphere.
In the absence of fuller clarifications regarding the claims raised by the protesters, the debate over the citizenship law remains open.