Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti attributed the turnout of just 3.47% in the north Kosovo local elections to what he called an atmosphere of intimidation and blackmail coming from Belgrade.
Some 45,000 Kosovo citizens were eligible to vote in the elections that took place in the Serb-majority municipalities of North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Zvecan and Leposavic on Sunday.
The vote took place after the mass resignation in November 2022 of Serb officials and local politicians over Pristina’s decision to require all Kosovo cars to display Kosovo plates, a problematic request as many Kosovo Serbs do not recognise the country’s independence from Serbia.
“The boycott was imposed by the threatening campaign of official Belgrade and its criminal tools on the ground in the north. I thank the citizens for their courage and calmness,” Kurti wrote on Facebook in response to the low voter turnout.
The Serbian List, a Serb party, boycotted the vote amid calls from Belgrade to do the same. Pressure from Belgrade before the election was significant, with President Aleksander Vucic announcing that Serbs would boycott the election.
“Tomorrow, our people will calmly, responsibly and disdainfully look at those who come from South Mitrovica to vote to elect new leadership in North Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zvecan and Zubin Potok. What will happen next will be a complete invasion for which the citizens are already ready; they are used to it,” He told the Serbian portal Beta.
He also criticised the stance of the EU, stating that no vote should take place before the establishment of the Association of Serb Municipalities, a key point of contention in the ongoing, EU-facilitated Kosovo-Serbia dialogue.
Intimidation tactics have been used recently for Serbs who switched their car number plates from Serbia-issued to Kosovo-issued, with a number being set on fire in the north of the country and allegations of strong-armed tactics to prevent others from doing so.
Vice President of Serbian List, Millan Radoicic, said Serbs in north Kosovo would never allow the municipalities to be run by those who won with “one or two percent of the votes.”
“It is up to us to continue the fight together with our country, Serbia, and with President Aleksandar Vucic to preserve peace and the right of Serbs to live their lives,” Radoicic said while not explaining what measures would be taken or how Serbs lives were being interfered with.
Meanwhile, Vucic called the vote a “failure of Kurti’s regime” and accused the West of imposing solutions on them.
“Yesterday, the Serbian people showed that they demand a completely different approach, above all from the international community, I mean the Western powers, that they demand greater respect, dialogue and not the imposition of a solution”, said Vucic.
According to preliminary Central Election Commission data, the Vetevendosje (VV) candidate in North Mitrovica, Erden Atiq, won 66.5% or 519 votes in total. Lulzim Hetemi from VV won the race for mayor of Leposavic with 100 votes or 73.5%. In Zubin Potok, Izmir Zeqiri from the Democratic Party of Kosovo received 52.1% or 196 votes. Meanwhile, in Zveçan, Ilir Peci, also from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, won 60% or 114 votes.
(Alice Taylor | Exit.al)
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