There are few politicians whose honesty of political moves are suspected that much, as in case of Krstimir Pantic, whose carrier used to go from the loyalty to Kosovo authorities to the loyalty to Serbia’s authorities. This time, after he tendered his resignation on the post of the Deputy Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija and refused to take the oath and sign solemn declaration with the coat of arms of the Republic of Kosovo with the sticker over it – his honesty can’t be suspected? Why? Simply, because he choose the defeated side. Political carrier of Krstimir comprises much more than what his former colleague from the Democratic Party of Serbia (DSS) Marko Jaksic said about him: from the fact that he threatened people that they will lose jobs if they don’t turn out on November elections, until the last political gesture of the Mayor-elect of Northern Mitrovica which opened the door to Kosovo Serbs to fight for survival and showed the fraction of the government’s policy toward Kosovo.
Due to the fact that he was a member of many parties and advocate of various programs (there are few Serbs in Kosovo who don’t do the same), Krstimir became a paradigm of all that is ‘crushing’ Kosovo Serbs. Whenever the authorities ruled there, they raised Serbs with the promises given to them, and destroyed them with the things they didn’t manage to deliver. That’s why Krtimir’s case is only proves that tail can never follow the head by the same speed. That was proved with the barricades as well, when previous authorities set and later dismantled them.
Last summer at the time when Krstimir already had the episode with guarding the barricade behind him and when he wholeheartedly pledged against the Brussels agreement and boycott of Pristina’s elections, what was all in contrary with the European agenda of the ruling coalition, the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) official Braca Grubacic said to Politika: “Well, all right than, we’ll work on Krtsimir!”
Than Krstimir became the bearer of the ticket and candidate for the mayor (two days ahead of elections he was attacked by two masked men in Mitrovica), and opened a victorious champagne following the run-off for the mayor.
However, something was ‘working’ in Krstimir all the time beside his party, while the glass of suspicion was overflown by internationals: firstly after OSCE had packed the voting material and stamped it by the stamp of Republic of Kosovo, followed by the EU representative who offered to newly elected councilors and mayors a fig leaf with the coat of arms of Kosovo under it.
Of course that Krstimir will pay the price for naive belief that he can save his sole without losing the trust of the party leader Aleksandar Vucic. However, it would cost that much the first deputy prime minister if he would reject such Kosovo tail in order to enter smoothly into Chapter 35 of negotiations with the EU, reserved mainly for Kosovo issues. Hence, Belgrade authority would make a terrible mistake if they would really think that Krstimir’s gesture was only a ‘personal act’. Sometimes, only a single indecent offer is sufficient for the breakdown.
