Prime Minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, has strongly condemned Serbia’s “interference” in Kosovo local election set to take place this Sunday. In a Facebook post, Haradinaj wrote that such actions are in conflict to the principle of good neighbourly relations and “significantly undermine” the process for normalization of relations between Kosovo and Serbia. “Good integration of Kosovo Serbs is a mutual interest and any attempt to damage this goal shall be considered as breach of their political will.

A working meeting of the Union of Srpska Lista Women was held in Mitrovica North yesterday, and participants said women in this area are very strong and ready to face political circumstances, Kontakt plus radio reported.

Jasmina Dedic, the Chair of the Union and a municipal assembly candidate of the Srpska Lista in the forthcoming elections, said that women gathered to offer support to the Srpska Lista mayoral candidate Goran Rakic.

The New Party (established in 2013 and headed by a former Serbian PM Zoran Zivkovic) called upon Serbs in Kosovo to support the candidacy of the leader of CI SDP, Oliver Ivanovic in the forthcoming Kosovo local elections, Blic daily reported.

The party said Oliver Ivanovic “fights for the interests of all Serbs in Kosovo, and not for the interests of the few people from Belgrade and their Kosovo branches,” Blic reported.

Serbian Government Office for Kosovo Director, Marko Djuric, visited yesterday in the afternoon Leposavic, to get first-hand information on frequent attacks against Srpska Lista activists, involving according to the victims’ testimonies activists of the Party of Kosovo Serbs (PKS) and members of Dragan Jablanovic family, who is a mayoral candidate in Leposavic, Tanjug news agency reported.

By: Nevena Radosavljevic

In northern Kosovo, Srpska Lista dominates the political scene. As local elections are approaching, Kosovo Serbs are being denied freedom of choice and freedom of expression.

Just when you might think that it is no longer necessary to talk about freedom of speech and freedom of expression in 21st-century Europe, the Balkans are always there to persuade you otherwise.

By: Armend Bekaj

October’s local elections in Kosovo will likely be free and fair – the real test of this young country’s democratic health is what happens after the election.

However, Kosovo’s longer-term challenge with democratization is not the election day. The chances are that this time, too, the elections will be organized in line with international standards.

As local elections in Kosovo draw nearer, the tensions in the Serb-dominated north are very different from the ones that haunted this region in the past.

Kosovo’s once infamous town of Mitrovica – for years known for its deep ethnic divisions and violent incidents between Albanians and Serbs – is a different place today.

After Serbian Government Office for Kosovo Director, Marko Djuric called upon Serbs from Kosovo to vote for Srpska Lista at the forthcoming local elections, the same call was repeated by former director of the Office for Kosovo and current Minister of Defence, Aleksandar Vulin, KoSSev portal reported today.

Vulin called upon Serbs in Kosovo “(…) to vote for Srpska Lista, participate in elections in large numbers and do not allow others to decide for them,” KoSSev reported.

Mayoral candidate for Mitrovica North municipality, Oliver Ivanovic stated that since the last campaign in 2013 until today nothing has been done in Mitrovica. “Security became topic number one,” Ivanovic said. He criticized the work of TV Most and TV Pink that took the side of one political option, KIM Radio reported.

Ivanovic said the pre-election campaign is held under weird circumstances, and there is no possibilities that candidates debate about their opinion.

According to KoSSev news portal, on October 16, at about 20:45, a TV show, aired by the private cable operator “CD KiM” from Zvečan (Žerovnica village) was interrupted, because the optic cable was cut. At that time, this local TV station was broadcasting a pre-recorded show, in which four mayoral candidates took part: Oliver Ivanović, Dragiša Milović, Dragan Jablanović and Slaviša Biševac.