Albin Kurti will directly benefit from the referendum boycott, and will then have additional levers of the government at his disposal to continue the pressure on the Serbian community. The reasons for the decision to boycott the referendum shared by our political representatives are not enough to justify it, said the director of the Center for Affirmative Social Actions (CASA), Miodrag Marinković. Marinković, on the other hand, does share the position of the political representatives of Kosovo Serbs regarding the decision not to participate in the census, saying that there are currently no conditions for it to be held.
The population census and the vote to recall the mayors in the north are the two currently trending topics in Kosovo. The majority of Serbian parties in Kosovo announced that they would boycott both processes. The former because, among other things, they believe that the census was organized at an unfavorable political point for Serbs, and the latter because impossible conditions were given for the recall process to be successful.
Marinković revealed that he concurs with the first decision of the political representatives of Kosovo Serbs to boycott the census. However, when it comes to the decision not to participate in the voting to recall mayors, he believes that it is not in any way beneficial to the Kosovo Serb community, because it would mean that the current mayors would remain in office for a longer period of time.
„The decision practically means that the current mayors will remain in their positions until October 2025, when the next local elections are set to be held. That’s a very long period of time if you take into account that the situation on the ground changes practically daily and that the Serbian community is facing rising pressure from Pristina.“
In his words, only Pristina benefits from the decision of the Serbian parties on the referendum.
„This way, the authorities will have additional levers at their disposal to continue putting pressure on the Serbian community, and the reasons for the decision to boycott the referendum shared by our political representatives are not sufficient to justify it,“ stressed Marinković.
He also underlined that Pristina did everything to make sure that the process failed:
„From defining unnecessarily complex procedures for impeachment of mayors, manipulation of voter lists, intimidation of citizens by installing cameras at polling stations and so on.“
According to Marinković, this is why all social actors, including the Republic of Serbia, should carry out an organized, coordinated action for the organized arrival of voters who currently live in Serbia proper, just as they did in the past.
„I believe that we gave up too easily.“
„The obvious lack of idea of how to fight for our interests, the puzzling and reactive policy of our political representatives, and the general defeatism in the community is worrying. It’s really a painful situation that has to change if we want to continue living here.“
Unlike the referendum, when it comes to the boycott of the population census, Marinković fully shares the position of the political representatives of Kosovo Serbs.
He pointed out that in some other “normal circumstances,” the census could be useful for the Serbian community:
„Because such data are used to create precise development policies, monitor some important social trends, etc.“
Marinković underlined that he agrees with the decision not to participate in the census because there are no conditions for it to be held at this moment.
„I agree for one simple reason, there are no objective conditions on the ground that would make it possible to determine the real number of Kosovo Serbs. There are a large number of factors that influence this, namely, the lack of an extensive campaign to inform citizens, the issue of the census of persons displaced from Kosovo, then the extraordinary security situation in the community, the behavior of Pristina which, under the pretext of the rule of law, creates enormous legal uncertainty for a large number of citizens and encourages their departure from Kosovo. Then there is the issue of lack of trust in Kosovo institutions, which is probably lower than ever, and the reason why a large number of citizens fear data misuse. All in all, a really perplexing situation where it is evident that we cannot obtain the real number of Kosovo Serbs with the census.“
In such an atmosphere, the question arises: What is the point of obtaining partial results?
He cited only risks that a population census would bring:
„For example, the risk that these partial results will be used to challenge the justification of the affirmative rights of the Serbian community in Kosovo, the reduction of budget grants to the Serbian community and a whole series of other abuses. And if one thing is certain, it is that the current government in Pristina very consistently uses such opportunities“.
Pristina is in the phase of criminalizing every connection of Serbs with Serbia; Belgrade is in the phase of collapse when it comes to its Kosovo policy
Marinković then drew a parallel between the current politics of Pristina and Belgrade. While summarizing them, he said that due to the goals and actions of both sides, in the last year alone, the Serbian community in Kosovo continues to pay the highest price.
„Pristina’s goal is obvious – the complete and rigid integration of the Serbian community in the north into the constitutional and legal system of Kosovo. In that process, Pristina, under the guise of consistent application of the law, completely delegitimizes the interests of the community, I would even say that it criminalizes every connection of Kosovo Serbs with the Republic of Serbia. Belgrade has no answer to that. I have already said that Belgrade’s policy towards Kosovo is puzzling, reactive, and it is no exaggeration to say that it has collapsed in the last year, with a series of incomprehensible wrong moves, such as the abandonment of institutions or events in Banjska. We are still paying the price for those moves because they largely discredited the efforts of the Serbian community to fight for their rights and opened up space for Kurti to dictate the terms.“
Because of everything, if something things do not change, the future of Serbs in Kosovo is uncertain, he added.
The goals of Kosovo Serbs must be defined and even the very concept of patriotism in the Kosovo context, he said, noting that the ability to properly criticize all abuses must be developed and to demand responsibility for everything.
„Patriotism must become an effort to preserve people and their right to a dignified life, preserve our culture, improve the education system and create conditions so that the best young people remain in Kosovo. It is not impossible, but instead of blind loyalty to the parties in power, we must develop the ability and courage to criticize abuses and demand responsibility,“ said Marinković.
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