The Government of Kosovo supports the holding of elections in the north according to administrative instructions

2023-10-13 20:07:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Government of Kosovo supports the holding of elections in the north

Illustrative photo

The Government of Kosovo supports the holding of new elections in the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo, based on the legal framework it has provided.

The spokesperson of the Government of Kosovo, Përparim Kryeziu, told Radio Free Europe that the administrative instruction published in September is the result of the commitments of the Kosovo executive for the extension of the situation in the north, "but also a reflection of our conviction that the new elections there should are driven by the democratic and resourceful will of the citizens".

"The government does not announce or organize elections. It supports them though. We consider it extremely important that the next election campaign be open and fair, and that the elections be free and democratic. The participation of the Serbian citizens of Kosovo is crucial", said Kryeziu, commenting on the request of the Serbian List that the elections in the north be announced.

Lista Serbe - the main party of Serbs in Kosovo, which has the support of official Belgrade - announced on October 13 that it is ready to participate in the elections in the municipalities in the north.

Earlier, this party had conditioned the holding of the elections, demanding "the withdrawal of the special units of Kosovo, the amnesty of all arrested Serbs who participated in barricades or protests and the resignation of the Albanian presidents".

On October 13, the head of this subject, Goran Rakic, did not specifically mention these conditions, but said that the party made the decision to participate in the elections in cooperation with the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic.

"...To stimulate the political process and the dialogue that would contribute to the fulfillment of our conditions, which we have emphasized several times so far", said Raki? during a media conference in North Mitrovica.

The new Albanian presidents in the north emerged from the April elections, after the votes were boycotted by the Serb List and the local population. They were opposed through protests in the north, which began at the end of May, and which escalated into violence.

The April elections were held after the collective withdrawal of Serbian officials from local and central institutions in November 2022, due to dissatisfaction with a decision by the Government of Kosovo regarding the conversion of illegal Serbian license plates to RKS-Republic of Kosovo ones. .

Kosovo, after facing punitive measures from the EU due to the tensions in the north that started in May, pledged to reorganize the elections through an administrative instruction that allows citizens to dismiss the mayors of their respective municipalities through a the petition. The petition must be signed by 20 percent of the electorate in the given municipality before it can be moved forward. If all the steps required by the administrative instruction, which was published in September, are completed, then the vote for the removal of the mayor of the municipality is held. For the removal of the mayor, 50 percent +1 vote of the citizens on the voter list is required. Then, new elections are announced.

The request of the Serbian List for the organization of the elections comes three weeks after the attack on the Kosovo police in Banjska, Zveçan.

Millan Radoicic, former vice-president of the Serbian List, has taken responsibility for organizing the attack, where Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed.

During the clashes, the authorities said that three attackers of the armed group of Serbs were also killed.

The spokesman of the executive said that the attack in Banjkes, organized and led by Radoiçiqi, "has reminded us once again of the vital importance of reviving the political pluralism of the Serbs in Kosovo. There is no democracy and freedom without pluralism".

Kosovo has accused Serbia of being behind the attack in Banjska, but Belgrade has denied having a hand in it.

The United States and the European Union have strongly condemned the attack and demanded that the parties return to the dialogue for the normalization of relations that is mediated by Brussels./ Rel