Serbs show how List of Srpska pushed under threats to come out and vote

Kosovo Serb citizens themselves have talked about the situations in which they were found. A woman, who lives in one of the majority Serb municipalities south of the Iber River and has declined to reveal her identity to the public, has testified to Radio Free Europe in connection with the pressures put on her family.

On Sunday, on Election Day (October 6th), about 6th and 45 minutes evening, my father has received a phone call that he has not carried out civic duty and that he should urgently go to the polls and vote for the particular political option. He did so because he works in Serbian institutions and because of fear he might jeopardise his job because he had not been put to the polls. My mother did the same, said the Serbian woman, whose identity is known for Radio Free Europe.

Its confession has received confirmation in the preliminary report of the European Union's Monitoring Mission, which was presented in Pristina on October 8th.

In addition to the positive assessment of the course of the election process, the European mission has estimated that the environment in which the campaign in Kosovo's predominantly populated areas has been vulnerable to intimidation, which has been targeted by candidates and supporters who have not been with the Serbian List.

Violet von Cremon-Taubdel, the leader of the European Union's Monitoring Mission, has also spoken about it.

“The campaign in areas where the majority of Kosovo Serbs are is marked by intimidation of candidates who have not been candidates and supporters of the Serbian List. In those environments, parties that have competed with the Serbian List have not been able to have effective election campaigns, in part due to the intimidation of their candidates, including their families and voters. The Serbian list, as well as the Government of Serbia, has controlled Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo, has oriented citizens to vote only for the Serbian List, while officials on that list are accused of being anti-Serb. With this, their democratic fundamental rights for freedom of expression, rally and presentation are limited, and as a result, when it comes to Kosovo Serbs, the election process has been denied in the view of these international standards”, said Violet von Cremon-Taubadel.

Petar Miletic, a member of the leadership of the opposition Movement of Free Citizens and former Kosovo Assembly Presidents, tells Radio Free Europe that among Kosovo Serbs, everyone knows about the intimidation of those who are not candidates for the Serbian List, which he supported by official Belgrade, as well as about the bribe for citizens of the Serb community to vote only that political option.

It is impossible for a list, in an atmosphere and democratic procedure, to win 95 percent of the vote. This only happens in serious dictatorships. Even some modern dictatorships in the world cannot provide themselves with 95 percent of the vote. So it's clear that it was about directives, that we've had something to do with pressures, somewhere with bribery, not even with money in most, but with jobs or any empowerment the state of Serbia gives them. All living in Kosovo know very well what happened there, but regarding why they are subjected to pressures, they do not want to speak publicly”, Miletic said.

Research into these pressures has also made Belgrade's security policy centres early this year. The researcher for this nongovernmental organisation, Isidora Stakiq, tells Radio Free Europe, that for this fact, he is not surprised at the assessment of the European Union's Monitoring Mission over pressure on Kosovo Serbs to vote for the Serbian List.

“Research of the Centre for Security Policy in Belgrade, which we have done in February of this year, shows that Serbs living in northern Kosovo are more afraid of representatives of Serbian authorities than Albanians. Generally, under the greatest pressure from the Serbian List, which is under the control of the Government of Serbia. The general impression, which we have reached on the basis of conversations with people in northern Kosovo, is that, in essence, there is not as much of the ethnic problem in Kosovo as the pressure of the Serbian List”, Isidora Stakiq said.

She added that pressures are very often hidden, while many can be described as threats to job loss and pressures of forms of various species that cannot easily identify themselves as open threats.

Now, before the elections, we've all seen that voters were taking orders via MTS (cell phone provider), which is the property of Serbia's state. In those orders, Serbia calls, go to the elections and vote for the Serbian List”, Stakiq said.

Serbian List leaders have so far failed to respond to Radio Free Europe's call to react to estimates of intimidation and pressure on the citizens of the Serb community in Kosovo to vote for the Serbian List.

In early parliamentary elections, in the Serb majority environments, the absolute winner is the Serbian List, which, according to the statement by the chairman of this political subject, Goran Rakiq, has received 98 per cent of the votes in Kosovo's majority Serb municipalities.

The Serbian list, which acts with the support of official Belgrade as well as so far, has been in power in Kosovo's majority Serb municipalities.