Serbian analyst: Vuciq wants to radicalise the situation in the north as much as possible

The majority of Serbs in northern Kosovo do not decide important life decisions, such as professional careers or even settlements, but have left their lives in the hands of Serbian authoritarian and corrupt powers. Whatever the solution for Kosovo, these people have already lost the most precious thing they had themselves the opportunity to influence their destiny, and this is another tragedy caused by Alexander Vuciqi's regime in order to strengthen the personal system”, so said Dragan Popovovic, director of the Centre for Practice Policy in Belgrade for Danas.

According to him, the exit of northern Serbs from Kosovo institutions is a demonstration of Aleksandar Vucinqi's power, to show that it still has the potential to influence regional stability.

I believe that after the decision there is a combination of different reasons, of which not all had equal impact. The main point is certainly the message to the international community that there is the possibility of escalation of conflict by the Serbian side and that this factor should be considered”, he said.

On the other hand, Popovic points out that, the Serbian “authorities, however, have to radicalise the situation as much as possible so that any possible future solution can present it as the best possible at that moment or at least as a lesser evil in comparison to war, ethnic cleansing or similar catastrophic”.

I have no doubt that there is a considerable rivalry toward Kurt, who, unlike his ancestors, behaves rigidly and shows no willingness either to surrender or to adapt to pressures from the West. All of this together brought about the decision to leave Kosovo institutions”, explains Dragan Popovic.

He, however, believes that the return of Serbs to institutions will also be part of the authorities' political assessment in Serbia, if this could be presented as winning Vuciki's policy.

“in general, at least they ask the Serbs in northern Kosovo, who for the time being are the currency for escape”, Popovic said.