It is six years since Islamic leaders and government officials laid the cornerstone of Pristina’s new central mosque – a slab of stone now hidden beneath weeds in a parking lot.

Pulling back the weeds reveals it is covered with bright red graffiti – death threats to Kosovo’s chief mufti, along with the words: “No Turkish mosque or there will be blood.”

In a picturesque village in northern Kosovo, Marko Đurić swigged from a bottle of Gazimestan beer and smiled for the cameras. On a visit to the area a few weeks previously, Đurić had been arrested by special forces, bundled into a police van, and unceremoniously deported. This time, Serbia’s point man for Kosovo issues was allowed to stay, albeit with a helicopter hovering noisily overhead to keep watch.

Aleksandar Vučić will accept independence only if Serbia gets something concrete in return.

When Nato bombed Serbia in 1999, Aleksandar Vučić was information minister, enforcing censorship rules for the country’s president, Slobodan Milošević, who would later be  for war crimes.

Marko Đurić was seized by special police officers who fired stun grenades to disperse crowd.

The 41-year-old who has never been part of a political party has risen from obscurity and is working to change Belgrade’s image

The UK is not the only country to have experienced a snap election in June. In Kosovo, a coalition between the Democratic party of Kosovo, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and the Initiative for Kosovo has finished in first place with 34% of the vote. A victory, but not enough to form a government. Sound familiar?

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