About half a million euros to cost elections process in the north

That is how Central Election Commission spokesman Valmir Elesi has announced.

“Budget scheduled for organising extraordinary elections for mayors: Northern Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposaviq and Zvecan and early elections for the Zvecan and Leposaviq municipalities, which will be held on April 23rd, is around 500 thousand euros”, he said of Portal Dukajin.

The extraordinary elections are held after mayors from the ranks of the Serbian List in the northern municipalities of northern Mitrovica -- Leposaviq, Zvecan and Zubin Potok -- have resigned in early November last year, due to the Kosovo Government's decision to re-register cars with Serbian license plates in Kosovo plates.

Surrenders have also given up Serbs employed in the judiciary, administration, police and customs of Kosovo.

The extraordinary local elections were originally announced on December 18th 2022, but, at the request of the international community, were postponed just ten days before they were held.

The Central Election Commission (KQZ) in Kosovo has said Wednesday that no political subject has applied to participate in the extraordinary elections for the four Serb majority municipalities in northern Kosovo.

These elections are scheduled to be held on April 23rd, following their postponement in December last year, at the request of the international community.

The elections in the north have applied 11 candidates, who are also valued for the April elections.

According to political issues connoisseurs, the failure to apply the Serbian List to the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo in this election endangers the overall success of the process.

The Serbian list, which enjoys the support of official Belgrade, has reconfirmed on March 20th that it will not participate in the elections and will take that stance until two requirements are met: the formation of the Serb majority municipality Association and the withdrawal of all special Kosovo Police units from northern Kosovo.

The issue of forming association should be resolved with the Agreement towards EU-backed normalisation, which Kosovo and Serbia have accepted.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has declared on March 21st that “will have to deal with that formulation in terms of self-awareness for the Serb community”.

Self-awareness for the Serb community in Kosovo is envisioned with the Agreement towards normalisation, but it is still not known exactly what it is all about.

Kurti, in some cases, has reiterated that Kosovo cannot allow the formation of one-ethnic associations because, according to him, these endanger the functioning of the state.

Serbia's president, Aleksandar Vuciq, after a meeting with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, on March 18th in Ohrid, has said elections in the north could be postponed for June.

I will not speak on behalf of the Serbian List. I just need to talk to those people. I need to see whether [the elections] should be held now or in June, we will see”, Vuciq said.

The extraordinary local elections will be organised in four northern municipalities -- northern Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposaviq and Zubin Potok -- following their chairmanial resignations in November last year.

Their resignations, as well as the collective resignations of Serbs from Kosovo institutions, have been a sign of dissatisfaction with the Government of Kosovo's decision to reregister cars with Serbian license plates at the RKS Republic of Kosovo.

Since 2013, when this party was formed, it has received over 90 per cent of the votes from the Serb community in almost all of Kosovo's elections.

However, the EU observer mission regularly mentions in reports that the Serbian List has “monized political life among Kosovo Serbs”.