Although the government and the largest part of the opposition continue to emphasize that Serbia will not recognize Kosovo independence, and PM Aleksandar Vučić is preparing to visit the southern province on Sunday, the Kosovo issue doesn’t have such importance in this election campaign. As estimated by the experts on politics, Kosovo issue was overshadowed by the other topics, primarily the position towards the European integration of Serbia and the promise for a “better life” of citizens.
Nikola Burazer, program director of the Center for modern politics claims that it should not be too surprising, since Kosovo was not an important topic even in the last two campaigns for parliamentary elections in 2012 and 2014, adding that interest of the voters for Kosovo political issues declined substantially in recent years. “Even the sharp criticizers of Aleksandar Vucic have no choice but to publicly support his policies toward Kosovo. It is not because this policy could not be criticized, but because it would be politically unprincipled and would have a poor response of voters,” he said.
Burazer indicates that when it comes to the right-wing parties, “it is interesting that opposing to the EU and NATO integrations, as well as a protest against the Hague verdicts, almost completely overshadowed the issue of Kosovo, when it comes to the importance of matters.”
