Vucic announces that the Serb majority will not participate in the municipal elections in northern Kosovo

8 Apr. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, has confirmed that the Serbian List, a large party representing the Kosovo Serb majority, will not participate in the early municipal elections in northern Kosovo, scheduled for April 23, despite calls for participation. Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

Vucic made this announcement late this past Friday, in a new obstacle to the stability of northern Kosovo now immersed in political chaos since the flagship party of the Kosovar Serb community decided to relinquish control in November last year. in local institutions after denouncing a campaign of persecution by the Kosovar government.

Since then, northern Kosovo has become the scene of constant protests and an atmosphere of tension that not even the recent talks between Pristina and Belgrade to agree on a special status for the area have managed to calm down.

“We are going to work with the Serbs of northern Kosovo to launch a statement before those elections that someone has decided to call for April 23, and in which Lista Serbia is not going to participate”, declared the president of Serbia, in comments collected by the B92 chain and in which it avoided referring to the organizers of the elections by name: the Kosovar prime minister and the president of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani.

Right now, only an immediate declaration from the so-called Community of Serb Municipalities of Northern Kosovo, an autonomy status discussed in the rapprochement talks between Serbia and Kosovo sponsored by the European Union, could convince the Serbian List to rejoin the electoral game, although Vucic also indicated that it is not even a safe option, given the anger of the Kosovar Serb population: “Their anger is reaching a climax,” he said.

Meanwhile, Kurti has once again this week called on Serbs to participate in the local vote. “The right of the Serbian community to vote freely is essential and anyone who continues to violate this fundamental right has nothing to hope for but the force of the law,” the Kosovar chief executive told Parliament last Wednesday.