The Serbian List will decide whether Serbian candidates will present themselves for President of Kosovo. The Albanian political elite in Pristina needs to get used to the fact that the Serbs have a right to be part of decision-making in the province and that they cannot only be political decor that contributes to creating the false image of a multi-ethnic society, said Marko Djuric, Director of the Serbian Government Office for Kosovo. “As the largest ethnic group in Kosovo after the Albanians, Serbs should have one of three most important positions – President, the position of Prime Minister, or the President of Parliament. This would represent a real sign of thawing relations and strengthened confidence,” added Djuric.
In such a case, a Serb president would have to defend “the Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo.” He probably would not be able to act as a “President of a Serbian province”?
Serbs in Kosovo participate in political life by rules which were written by others. This was enforced upon them by the well known historical circumstances, which we cannot reverse through resignation or boycott. To be able to re-write the pages of Kosovo’s history, they have to participate in this match, although the predispositions are not very favorable.
President Nikolic urged caution during the negotiations on Chapter 35 with the EU, so that Kosovo independence would not be accepted “de facto”. Will this chapter be closed without that “sword over the head”?
We have indications of the direction in which the process of normalization of relations should go. However, we don’t know whether Serbia will be asked to treat Kosovo differently to its southern province. At this stage, the process of normalization relations leaves us room to protect state interests through Brussels talks with the interim provincial institutions. It also leaves us room to work on the survival and prosperity of the Serbian community in Kosovo. In any negotiating process, participants do not play with open cards. It is difficult to predict what the final outcome of this prolonged “card game” will be, because the cards are changing, as well the circumstances in which the game is played, and not always to our disadvantage.
