Quint State message to citizens: Don't vote on criminals!

Ambassadors from France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States have come out with a joint statement concerning elections to be held on 6 October.

In their letter, they have expressed expectations by all parties and candidates to promote a fair environment of the election race throughout Kosovo.

Also, their statement stresses that the elections and formation of the new government provide an opportunity for urgent resumption of talks with Serbia in order to reach an agreement.

While citizens have demanded that on election day, speak openly to parties and candidates what you expect from the next government.

This is your country. Thanks to many who have fought and sacrificed, your country is a democracy. Like democracy in other states, including our states, the Kosovo system has imperfection. Your voices and votes are important. Only the people can bring about changes”, it is said among other things in this statement.

Full Posting: The upcoming elections are crucial opportunities for Kosovo citizens to decide for running the state. Kosovo citizens deserve the promise of peaceful and prosperous future, and the only way to ensure this future is through the expression of the will of the people in this election.

We represent states that are deeply devoted to democratic and independent Kosovo. Any suggestion that our governments support any particular party or candidate in the elections is incorrect. As in past elections, we will join other local and international bodies to help ensure a free and fair environment.

Kosovo in the past has witnessed experiences in holding professionally trusted and managed elections, even though not perfect. Our embassies expect these elections to have improvements compared to past elections, and to avoid manipulations and fraud that tarnished the 2010 elections (as the 2010 report by the EU Mission of Election Experts) says, as well as the intimidation of Kosovo Serb candidates and voters who were not listed with the Serbian List in 2017 (remembered in 2017 reports of the EU Mission for Election Monitoring). We refuse pressure on voters, including job threats, and refuse vote buying, including through the promise of public office. We refuse any attacks on spirit mediums, whether physical or in the form of a call for violence, and refuse attempts to label media with false news. We stand by independent media and civil society in exercising their role in monitoring and public monitoring of the election process.

Therefore, we expect all political parties and candidates to promote a fair environment of the election race throughout Kosovo. We encourage citizens to announce abuses of funds or public resources in the campaign, as well as any effort to intimidate. We expect Kosovo authorities to take quick and appropriate action against all violations in the entire state. For Kosovo's democratic future, it is important that all those involved respect the state election laws, and that the elections be held as seen on October 6th.

We tell party leaders and candidates:

We hope to see you in this election campaign engaged in energetic and frank debate over the possibilities and problems Kosovo has.

As our governments recently noted, the elections and formation of the new government provide an opportunity for urgent resumption of talks with Serbia with the aim of reaching a comprehensive, politically stable and legally binding agreement, and contributing to regional stability. This is clearly in Kosovo's interest. To reach an agreement Kosovo's future government will need flexibility to negotiate, and the ability to articulate a positive vision of the future state relationship with Serbia, and the economic and security benefits it can bring to Kosovo.

We hope that this campaign will have politicians committed to citizens of all communities in an energetic and sincere public debate about the possibilities and challenges the state has. Voters want their leaders to ensure that Kosovo's young can build their futures here. Voters deserve detailed answers from parties to how their programmes will strengthen the education system so that the graduates will be better prepared for employment; how these programmes will create jobs and improve private sector development and investments, how they will support entrepreneurship, how they bear fiscal responsibility, and how they will improve energy and environment security.

More importantly, Kosovo needs rule of law. We believe that the candidates must not have a criminal record, or links to criminal activities, and that they should show how they will fight corruption and organised crime, how they will oppose impunity and nepotism at the highest levels, and how they will make clean governance through merit-based appointments and policies and programmes that reward integrity. The first opportunity for parties to display these commitments is to compile lists of candidates who have priority competence, not ties.

We urge you to rise above popular and nationalist rhetoric that will not help Kosovo. From these elections Kosovo needs leaders with detailed ideas about how to meet citizens' demands, and about a government that can work with credibility. Kosovo citizens deserve to hear detailed platforms from the parties in order to make reasonable decisions for their vote.

Finally, we look to the most important acts of choice - the people.

Our governments want Kosovo, now located in the second decade of existence, to succeed. We will continue to support its development. But, responsibility for Kosovo's future, for Kosovo leaders, and for Kosovo itself, is only yours, the people of Kosovo.

This is your country. Thanks to many who have fought and sacrificed, your country is a democracy. Like democracy in other states, including our states, the Kosovo system has imperfection. Your voices and votes are important. Only the people can make changes.

So, from today until Election Day, speak openly to parties and candidates what you expect from the next government. Persist on having real plans and proposals, not just empty rhetoric. Judge if the people you voted for will fulfill their promises. Reject criminals. Ask for genuine democratic selection. And, on Election Day, you know and vote.