The leaders of the Serbian List – the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo – reconfirmed on Monday that they will not participate in the local elections in the northern municipalities of Kosovo.
Party members resigned en mass in November 2022, along with Serb members of the judiciary, police, and administrative staff.
The elections were due to take place on 18 December 2022. Still, due to ethnic Serbs blocking roads and border crossings, stoking fears of a return to conflict between the two countries, the international community asked they be postponed.
Through a press release, the party, which enjoys the official support of Belgrade, said it would maintain its position until two conditions are met: the formation of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority and the withdrawal of all special units from the north of Kosovo.
“This makes it more than clear that Pristina and its Central Election Commission are trying to unilaterally organise elections in the north of Kosovo and Metohija without respecting the legitimate interests of the Serbian people and against the will of the citizens,” the Serb List said in a statement.
Attempts to organise elections in December resulted in attacks with grenades on municipal electoral commission premises. The Minister of Internal Affairs of Kosovo, Xhelal Sveçla, said that “organised groups, with some masked individuals”, attacked the election officials and the policemen “with grenades and shots in the air.”
The decision from Serbian List comes days after Serbian President Aleksander Vucic and Albanian Prime Minister Albin Kurti met with EU officials in Ohrid to hammer out details of an annexe to an agreement to normalise relations between them. While nothing was signed, the EU announced that an agreement had been made.
Vucic backtracked once again to a public audience, saying that he would never sign any agreements.
“I have excruciating pain in my right hand, I can only sign with my right hand, and that pain is expected to continue for the next four years,” Serbia’s Vucic said on live TV on Sunday night.
EU remains positive despite Serbian backtrack, Kosovar disappointment over deal
Following Serbian President Aleksander Vucic’s apparent backtrack on plans to sign the EU-brokered proposal to normalise relations between Serbia and Belgrade, Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti spoke of his disappointment to parliament on Thursday while the EU remains positive.
During his …
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
Source: euractiv.com
