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Will the student protests affect the mood of Serb voters in Kosovo in the elections on Sunday, February 9? Does the Serbian List have an alternative?
The upcoming elections in Kosovo are being held for Serbs under the shadow of protests in Serbia, but it is estimated that these movements will not have much impact on the position of the Serb community in Kosovo. Any change in the political hierarchy in Kosovo would be possible only if the Serbian List suffered a heavy defeat, which is practically impossible, since that List is under the patronage of Aleksandar Vučić's Serbian Progressive Party.
The Serb community in Kosovo is having a much harder time resisting the Serbian authorities in Belgrade than students and other demonstrators in Serbia. Serbs in Kosovo have six lists they can vote on, but DW's interlocutors warn that miracles are unlikely.
The sad reality for Serbs in Kosovo
"The student protests have no echo in Kosovo and Kosovo remains in the hands of the Serbian List," foreign policy commentator Boško Jakšić tells DW.
"The government is holding them hostage, which is very bad for Serbs in Kosovo. I think these elections will only confirm a painful status quo for the Serb community in Kosovo."
"There is an alternative," Jaksic continues, "but it has been declared treason to think and decide differently, because no other opinion can be heard. The Serbian List has been declared the only one that can take care of them, and this is a sad reality for Serbs in Kosovo," our interlocutor emphasizes.
(Non)existent alternatives
Journalist Milivoje Mihajlovic believes that "the student protests will somehow affect the mood of Serbian voters, but there will be no significant change." I expect the Serbian List to win most of the ten guaranteed seats, because it is an offshoot of the SNS, he emphasizes. Much more important than that is that the Serbian List is a political offshoot for managing the money that Serbia sends to Kosovo Serbs. "Serbian voters there believe that they depend on the authorities in Belgrade and the power, and above all the money that is allocated to them is still in the hands of Aleksandar Vučić," Mihajlovic estimates for DW.
There is no serious alternative, because the Serbian List has been “an instrument of Aleksandar Vučić to manage the will of the Serbs of Kosovo” for years. If someone manages to win another mandate, it will probably be one or two mandates, no more. “This is not enough to change anything important for the Serbs in Kosovo,” Mihajlovic emphasizes.
What does Serbia want in Kosovo?
This is a very aggressive policy, says Boško Jakšić, who adds that “this can also be measured by the government's attitude towards Milan Radoićić, whom the government protects in every possible way.” So, there is no room for optimism here at all.
Official Belgrade expects the Serbian List to win all ten seats. It is clear that a catastrophic mistake was made when Serbs were ordered to withdraw from the institutions. This is an attempt to correct that mistake, but now the question arises – can things change? The Serbian List with ten deputies cannot influence major policies. “It is simply not known what Serbia really wants from Kosovo,” said Jakšić.
The status quo continues in Kosovo
Milivoje Mihajlovic emphasizes that things are actually quite simple in Kosovo: “Whoever attacks Belgrade, and in this case it is Albin Kurti, he can count on victory.” As for Richard Grenell’s statement that Kurti and the government in Kosovo do not have as much support as they claim, this may only affect certain layers. Kurti has considerable support in the diaspora and in some more aggressive circles. Vučić’s propaganda says that Kurti supports students in Serbia, which only works in his favor, because this way he gains support among Albanians, who think that he is powerful enough to influence the protests in Serbia. “This, of course, is not true, but this is how it is presented in some circles in Kosovo,” notes Mihajlovic.
He believes that the political status quo will remain in Kosovo even after the next elections. Mihajlovic, however, draws attention to some illogicalities, first of all "the fact that there are two million people on the voter list in Kosovo, while the census says there are fewer residents there". This is a terrible reservoir for theft and manipulation. "Kurti has managed to impose violence against Serbs and police repression instead of dialogue. We will see after the elections what the next objectives of the regime in Pristina will be," Milivoje Mihajlovic concludes in his statement to DW.
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