Kosovo closes almost 30 Serbian institutions weeks before parliamentary elections

MADRID Jan 15 () –

The Government of Kosovo has closed 28 organizations controlled by the Serbian minority, an initiative with which Pristina wants to put an end to “parallel institutions” but which is expected to increase inter-community tensions in the face of the parliamentary elections on February 9.

The measure affects local centers and tax facilities in a dozen Kosovo localities, including the capital, reports the Bloomberg agency. It joins other similar closures that the Government had previously adopted in the northern part of Kosovo over the last year.

The director of the Serbian office for Kosovo has accused Albin Kurti’s government on social media of trying to raise tension for political purposes, to shore up voting intentions for the next elections, and has indicated that this type of decision puts dialogue in question.

However, he has warned that Kurti “is not the only one to blame” and has also appealed to the “responsibility” of the European Union, which has tried in vain to get Belgrade and Pristina to come closer to resolving the political rupture of 2008, when Kosovo declared independence unilaterally.

The EU has publicly questioned some of the decisions taken by the Kosovo authorities in recent years against the Serbian community, the majority in the north, including the initial veto for the Serbian List party to run in the next elections.