Serbia insists on organising elections in Kosovo

(Most monitored broadcasters, KTV&TV21)

Will holding of Serbia’s elections in Serb majority settlements in Kosovo be allowed or not? This issue has raised a lot of dilemmas. The Assembly Speaker Jakup Krasniqi is reserved regarding this issue. He said that the agreement was made by the Government; every decision made by the Government will be respected, while the Government should make decisions that are in line with Kosovo’s Constitution and legislation.

The OSCE officials claim that they will be facilitators of Serbia’s parliamentary elections in the territory of Kosovo as well. “There was a round of consultations among relevant stakeholders, in this case Prishtinë/Pristina and Belgrade, in order to define possible modalities. They agreed on setting up 10 collection centres with 15 branches, and we will have 400 members involved in this process. Some of them will come from regional countries because of the language knowledge,” said Nikola Gaon, OSCE spokesperson.

However, Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri said that the Brussels agreement implied the end of Serbia’s interference in Kosovo’s internal affairs.

The Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic, on the other hand, said that the Brussels agreement did not deny Serbs the right to vote for their state.

Now the question arises, which agreement is Serbia referring to when talking about the right to organise its elections also in the Serb majority settlements in Kosovo? Naim Rashiti of the Balkan Group said that according to the Ahtisaari Agreement and the Kosovo Constitution, Serbia’s parliamentary elections may be held in Kosovo, organised by another structure. “If both countries would mutually recognise each other, I believe that Kosovo’s Central Commission or a Kosovo state mechanism would organise elections in Kosovo on behalf of Serbia’s Central Commission. In that case it would be even less contradictory, as Kosovo would be an OSCE member. The issue is jurisdiction and administration of the process in the Kosovo territory by Serbia’s Central Commission,” Rashiti said.

Earlier, political experts stated that this situation is as a result of lack of clarification in the Brussels Agreement. According to them, the agreement is ambiguous with regard to election process.

Quoting the OSCE spokesperson about the modality of holding Serbia’s parliamentary elections in Kosovo, TV21 reporter asked PDK MP Zenun Pajaziti: “The Government officials continuously stated that they would not allow holding of Serbia’s elections in the Kosovo territory. What is in fact happening now?” Answering the question, Mr Pajaziti said that there is a difference between legally organising elections and facilitating minority citizens in Kosovo to vote by using their right to dual citizenship. “I believe that the OSCE’s role in this case to allow a voting process for Serbs is positive, but this does not mean that there will be polling stations with observation process as they illegally used to do. I think that the whole process is more or less political. It is true that there have been ambiguities since the Ahtisaari and onwards. As we are already aware, Serbs abused presence of the international institutions to organise election processes in the past. I think it is no longer needed that Kosovo institutions allow a totally illegal process for Serbs in Kosovo; on the other hand, we should welcome a facilitation, so that they can vote by-mail or through some collection centre. However, this does not mean a legal process for Serbia’s elections in Kosovo,” Pajaziti said.

TV21 reporter, again referring to the statement of the OSCE spokesperson, asked Avni Mazreku, professor of EU integration, to comment whether this represents interference in Kosovo’s internal affairs. According to Mazreku, the Kosovo Government officials have been dishonest in their statements to citizens. “There is a big contradiction here when the OSCE spokesperson states that there was an agreement between the Kosovo and Serbian government representatives, and this is considered as a fait accompli, namely that our government officials have agreed for organising those elections… If there was an agreement made by the Kosovo Government on the parameters of organising the elections, it cannot be considered interference in internal affairs,” Mazreku said.

On the other hand, Mr Pajaziti believes that no Serbia’s elections will be held in Kosovo, but he added that Kosovo institutions have chosen not to use force for preventing the elections. “I think that the OSCE will make sure to facilitate Serbs in using their right to dual citizenship, and if they so wish, to in an organised way transport some of their ballots there. But by any means there will be no polling stations or any regular election process in the Kosovo territory,” Pajaziti added.

TV21 reporter asked Mr Mazreku whether the process should have been facilitated by the Central Elections Commission (CEC) instead of the OSCE. Mr Mazreku answered, “We just heard the OSCE representative, the organisation which is accredited to organise the elections, that there has been an agreement reached by both parties, Serbian Government and Kosovo Government. The only unclear aspect is lack of honesty by the Kosovo Government and PDK officials in telling people that the elections will be organised, that they will not be organised by Kosovo institutions, that Kosovo mechanisms will not be used to prevent the elections because they were willing for the elections to be organised, and that the elections are already a fact.”

KTV quoted political party representatives as saying that holding of Serbia’s parliamentary elections in Kosovo represents a violation of Kosovo’s Constitution and sovereignty. Reportedly, political party representatives called on the Kosovo Government to take all steps for preventing holding of the elections. Serbia announced that this Sunday it will open 90 polling stations in Kosovo.

Dacic refutes Tahiri’s statement about Serbia’s elections in Kosovo

(Most monitored broadcasters, Klan Kosova)

Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said that Serbia’s parliamentary elections will certainly be held in Kosovo, as well. Dacic emphasized that statements of Kosovo chief negotiator Edita Tahiri in Brussels are not true. Ms Tahiri had stated that Serbia’s elections cannot be held in Kosovo.

On the other hand, Kosovo Deputy Prime Minister Hajredin Kuçi said that Kosovo government will respect two principles: firstly that Serbia cannot organize elections in Kosovo and secondly that Serb citizens with Serbian citizenship will be provided the opportunity to take part in these elections, for which, the OSCE will play a technical role.

Vllasi: Kosovo Serbs have the right to vote in Serbia’s parliamentary elections

(RTK2)

Political analyst Azem Vllasi told RTK2 that Serbs in Kosovo have the right to vote in forthcoming Serbia’s parliamentary elections on 16 March.

“Kosovo Serb citizens who hold also Serbian citizenship have the right to take part in Serbia’s elections as same as all other citizens of Serbia. The manner of organizing this process, whether there will be polling stations for practical reason to be closer to Serb citizens with right to vote, or they will be transported by bus to the nearest place in Serbia, is a different matter. Therefore, this should not be turnred to a political issue,” Vllasi said.

Kuçi: No conditioning of KAF establishment

(Most monitored broadcasters, RTK1)

Establishment of Kosovo Armed Forces (KAF) is irreversible. Deputy Prime Minister of Kosovo Hajredin Kuçi called on minorities and opposition parties not to mix the issue of Armed Forces and reserved seats for communities.

“The issue of Kosovo Armed Forces establishment is a done deal. This should not be related to any other political, party or ethnic action. These are separate issues; therefore we also call on the other political parties and communities in Kosovo not to relate the issue of KAF with the reserved seats,” Kuçi said.

On the other hand, commenting on the minorities request for another mandate of reserved seats in the Assembly, AAK leader Ramush Haradinaj said that they have a generous stance about this matter.

Assembly Speaker Jakup Krasniqi also reacted against communities’ requests, considering them unreasonable.

Yagcilar: One more mandate for reserved seats

(TV21)

Head of Turkish Democratic Party of Kosovo (KDTP) and the minister of public administration Mahir Yagcilar said that minorities should at least for another mandate have reserved seats at the Assembly of Kosovo.

Serb extremist starts hunger strike in Jarinje border crossing

(Klan Kosova)

An extremist Serb who was not allowed entrance to Kosovo entered hunger strike in Jarinje border crossing between Kosovo and Serbia. Borislav Prelevic, a former collaborator of Arkan, told Serbian media that he will not quit the strike until he will be allowed to enter Kosovo.