Balkans | Vucic: A peaceful Kosovo Serb political uprising broke out yesterday

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic described the local elections held in northern Kosovo yesterday as a “peaceful political uprising of the Kosovo Serbs.”

Vucic assessed, in a press conference in the capital, Belgrade, the local elections that were held in four municipalities in northern Kosovo, where most of them are Serbs, and that only 1,566 out of 45,000 registered voters voted as a result of the Kosovo Serb boycott of the elections. .

Noting that only 13 Kosovo Serbs voted in four municipalities, Vucic said, “This is a historic result. Nothing like this has happened in any election in Europe. This is what happens when elections are held for only one party,” he said.

Vucic stated that Kosovo Serbs are acting within the framework of “responsibility” and said: “The biggest lesson we can learn from yesterday is that there is no dialogue in reality. We cannot establish a dialogue, on the contrary, only documents that are in the interest of the other side are presented before us.” . He said.

Advocating that the EU does not hear the voice of Kosovo Serbs, Vucic said, “Yesterday, there was a peaceful political uprising of Serbs in Kosovo against their oppression.” He rated it.

Vucic said that he will “probably” attend the meeting to be held in Brussels on the dialogue process between Belgrade and Pristina on May 2, saying “We need to move forward on the path of the European Union, but we also need dialogue. I am afraid that what is happening is the beginning of a deep crisis.” The culprit is those who don’t hear the Serbs trying to tell their problems.” He said.

Vucic indicated that they do not want to be “deceived” and said, “We will vote against Kosovo regarding membership of the Council of Europe.” He said.

Local elections in northern Kosovo

The Kosovo Central Election Commission (KQZ) announced yesterday that 1,567 (3.47 percent) out of the 45,095 registered voters in the region voted in local elections held in 4 municipalities in northern Kosovo.

While KQZ reported that the votes had been counted, it was stated that the municipalities of North Mitrovica and Leposavic were won by the Take Yourself (VV) movement, led by Prime Minister Albin Kurti, and the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) won the municipalities of Zveçan and Zubin Potok.

The Serb List, the largest Serb party in Kosovo, did not participate in the local elections and called on Kosovo Serbs to “boycott the elections”.

Kosovo President Fyuza Osmani stated that the local elections in the municipalities of North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposavic and Zvecan, which were scheduled to take place on 18 December 2022, following the withdrawal of Kosovo Serbs from central and local institutions in Kosovo, had been postponed to 23 April due to the risk of The security situation in the north of the country.

Relations between Serbia and Kosovo

Although Kosovo is recognized as an independent country by 117 countries, it is described as one of Europe’s “frozen conflict zones” due to persistent ethnic tensions in its north and its inability to become a member of the United Nations.

Serbia considers Kosovo, which unilaterally declared its independence in 2008, to be its territory.

Serbia and Kosovo, which clash periodically, are trying to find a common way to normalize relations, and eventually the two countries get to know each other, within the scope of the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue process initiated in 2011 with the mediation of the European Union.

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