What does the Serbian List in Kosovo really do?

Serbian List officials often say in public that this political party is the only legal and legitimate representative of Serbs in Kosovo institutions, but their voices are almost never heard in the Kosovo Assembly or Government, because they rarely participate in sessions or meetings.

The Serbian list, close to Serbian President Aleksandar Vuciq's Serbian Progressive Party, is the only party representing Serbs in Kosovo's institutions, the only Serbian political option to participate in the work of central and local Kosovo institutions.

That's why, August 3, Civil society from the ranks of the Serb community invited the Serbian List to take responsibility for itself and actively participate in the work, so that through institutional channels it could end instability and contribute to peace.

Recent tensions in Kosovo rose on July 31st, prior to the launch of the process of reregistering Serbian license plates with the appointments of Kosovo cities on RKS (Republishment of Kosovo), as well as the deployment of reciprocal measures concerning IDs issued by Serbian organs.

As a sign of protest, local Serbs in four municipalities in northern Kosovo blocked streets with trucks and other vehicles, meanwhile, the Serbian List thanked them for this and encouraged them.

Meanwhile, the Kosovo government, in response to the international partners' demand, decided to postpone for 30 days the implementation of these decisions, due to the dezinforms coming from Belgrade for the situation on the ground.

Igor Markoviq from the non-governmental organisation active by North Mitrovica estimates that the Serbian List is a “bojler that flows” in relation to information coming from Belgrade and that it does almost nothing to protect the interests of Serbs through institutions in Kosovo.

The Serbian <x0List does not use the institutions it functions on and which it has chosen as the channel for articulating the interests of the Serb community. Somehow it seems that the Serbian List is in Serbia, not in Kosovo”, Markovic says.

The nongovernmental organisation Active is one of the signatories of the announcement, which calls on the Serbian List to establish an institutional channel of communication with Kosovo's prime minister in addition to communication with Belgrade.

Igor Markoviq, also, says representatives of the Serbian List in no way have notified the local population of the decisions of the Government of Kosovo, nor have they explained what it is about. He stresses that citizens have almost had no information.

The only “Informs coming from their legal representatives in Kosovo institutions were weak and with conflict-like content. Instead of being in the Assembly (of Kosovo), when discussing that administrative guide, they did not attend. It's a step that has to be used not only for the initial calming of tensions but also for the best adjustment of that field”, he considers.

According to him, each crisis in Kosovo has a direct impact on the expulsion of members of the Serb community, who, he says, are under pressure of continued uncertainty. /rel