Kurti accused of lying to the EU and US

The director of the Serbian Office for Kosovo, Petar Petković, accused Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti of lying to the European Union and the United States but has not substantiated his claims.

Elections in four municipalities in northern Kosovo remain a hot topic in both Belgrade and Pristina. After Serbs resigned en masse from all government and state institutions in late 2022, and boycotted the candidate lists and polling booths in the subsequent elections, at the behest of Serbia, ethnic Albanians were elected in their place.

This led to conflict in the north as Serbs protested, with over 30 KFOR troops plus citizens, journalists, and police injured.

Kosovo has said it will hold new elections if the local population votes to oust the incumbent mayors and preparations are already underway. This includes citizens filing a petition to oust the current mayors and a vote to install replacements as the government and legal and constitutional experts argue it is not possible to just call a new vote and that a process must be followed.

Petković said “Kurti’s administrative instruction willingly complicates the situation by introducing a nonsensical procedure. By doing this, Kurti has lied directly to the EU and US representatives, given that he has promised publicly to hold the elections.”

“Kurti does not want to hold those elections and is looking for every way to avoid and postpone them”, he said, not providing any information on what Kurti had lied about.

While Pristina has taken steps to hold new elections, despite them being considered legitimate by all foreign observers, local Serbs have already said they will not participate and Serbian President Aleksander Vucic said he cannot guarantee they will take part.

Petković also claimed this is the only way tensions can be reduced in the north.

“The terror on Serbs has increased after the illegitimate elections, and its only goal is ethnic cleansing. Due to the unparalleled pressure and violence of the Kosovo police, the only solution for instantaneous de-escalation is to hold elections in the north of Kosovo and Metohija and for Kurti’s special forces to recede”, he said, not referencing the terrorist attack carried out on 24 September in the north and led by Serbs including the recently resigned vice-head of Kosovo’s Serb political party, Serb List.

Local and international stakeholders now argue that following the attack, matters such as elections, reducing police presence, and even the establishment of the Association of Serb Municipalities, require adressing in the new context.

Police carried out several searches over the weekend in connection with the events in Banjska. No arrests were made, and weapons and explosives were found in one of the seven locations searched.

(Bojana Zimonjić Jelisavac | Euractiv.rs)