Once again, we will listen to President Vučić’s advice, so today we are sending a message that we are ready to participate in the elections in the north of Kosovo, Srpska Lista announced at a press conference today, to which only select media outlets were invited.
A day after the Serbian president called on Kosovo Serbs to participate in the elections as soon as possible, that is, to „come out“ with initiatives for organizing the election process as quickly as possible, Srpska Lista obeyed the „appeal“.
The party emphasized that all previous political decisions „were made in coordination with Belgrade“.
„That’s why we ask Pristina to call for extraordinary local elections for mayors and councillors in all four municipalities in the north of Kosovo as soon as possible,“ said Srpska Lista chief, Goran Rakić.
The ball is now in Pristina’s court, he added.
While referring to the current Albanian mayors as „illegal and illegitimate,“ he alleged that their sole purpose is „to harass our citizens“.
„These false, illegal, and illegitimate mayors and councillors who have been harassing our citizens for months must immediately resign and leave, get out of our buildings because they are not representatives of our people.“
Speaking about the withdrawal from Kosovo institutions by the Serbs in the north last November, Rakić described it as an intention to „draw the attention of the world public to the fact that the Serbian people are suffering“, but also that the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities must be formed.
He called for „unity and accord“ among citizens, in light of long-standing pressures on Serbs and Serbia.
Rakić also accused the Prime Minister of Kosovo of deploying special units to the north under the guise of fighting crime – „who are shooting at our people“.
„Therefore, without any proof and unfoundedly, our fellow citizens from all four municipalities are still in prisons under impossible and terrifying conditions,“ claims Rakić.
Despite the months-long crisis, Srpska Lista was not visibly active in the public eye during this period. After a long break, at the first media conference the party organized, according to the available recordings, today’s conference was attended by only two media outlets – Kosovo Online and TV Most.
In the meantime, in the Viber group for the media, the vice-president of SL, Igor Simić, sent an „apology“ after one of the journalists from the group remarked that most of the media were not invited to the conference.
Almost a year has passed since Serbs from the north, at the beginning of November of 2022, left Kosovo institutions over the issue of license plates with Serbian markings of towns in Kosovo. At the time, they listed several demands for their return, such as the withdrawal of special units from the North and the formation of the ASM.
As a direct consequence of this, the Kosovo authorities organized new elections, which local Serbs boycotted. With new Albanian mayors and without the participation of local Serbs, local governments were re-formed.
The situation became additionally complicated in recent months, with two major crises – the one in May, when Kosovo special forces installed Albanian mayors into three municipal buildings in the North, and a few days later, a group of Serbs clashed with KFOR; and more recently in September, when the conflict in Banjska took place.
For months, the international community has repeatedly called for the organization of new local elections, one in which Serbs would also participate, without conditions, and this was one of the points and the only one required from Belgrade, in the European plan for de-escalation of the situation in the North of Kosovo.
Until last night, no one from the Serbian authorities, including Belgrade and Srpska Lista, gave any indication they would be inviting citizens to participate in the elections.
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