Jablanovic assigns conditions to Kurti for elections in the north

Jablanovic stressed that if such a decision is realised there will be major consequences for all citizens where, according to him, responsibility goes to the Serbian List and the Government of Kosovo.

“I think it is unrealistic to expect the elections to be announced in such a way with a petition of 20% of voters. The main responsibility for this situation lies with the Government of Kosovo and the Serbian List, but the consequences suffer by all citizens”, he said.

In addition, Jablanovic adds that the mayors of northern municipalities must resign so that this situation can calm down as soon as possible.

According to Jablanovic, the dialogue between the political actors of the northern Serbs and the Government of Kosovo is necessary.

“I think the mayors should resign and thus remain registered as pragmatic and courageous people who care for the interests of most citizens and not for their personal political interests. For that to happen, a direct dialogue is needed between the political actors of the northern Serbs and the Government of Kosovo, which currently does not exist”, Jablanovic said.

Jablanovic does not rule out the fact that even the party he leads to participate in the elections, whenever they are held, but some initial conditions must be met.

I think that only in such dialogue can some basic preconditions for normal elections be defined. If the government starts such a dialogue and process, the party I lead would certainly participate in that dialogue, despite our major initial differences. The elections are our goal and the election victory is the reason we deal with politics, but for this some preconditions must be met”, Jablanovic told Blic newspaper.

Kosovo is ready to hold elections in the country's north, but it needs the necessary preparations to stop boycotting. So said Prime Minister Albin Kurti, a day after meeting with EU special envoy Mirslav Lajcak, who signalled that Kosovo leader had agreed on the need to ease tensions in the north.

Referring to the EU's demands for suspension, Kurti said holding elections is the only way for power shift in the north, but the campaign must be fair and free of threats. According to him, there are no guarantees for Serb participation.

As far as the third point is concerned, Kosovo police leave the northern municipal facilities, Kurti said something like this could not happen as long as 350,0004 of violent extremists in the north are at large. He referred to information that Serbia is smuggling weapons with ambulances to northern Kosovo.

For early elections we agree. The choice has come, the choice is gone. I don't think there's any other ways, right, legal ways to get rid of the mayors. There is no reward for the lynx with the resignation. It's a moral act. I agree that when a new chairman is elected in Leposaviq he will have admission and surrender of office.

I asked the U.S. not to go from one failure to another in terms of citizens' participation. There is no guarantee there will be participation. There will be a repeat of April 23rd. Violent extremists either face justice or go to Serbia.

The ambulances were used to transport weapons. KFOR Commander will see him. We're collecting data. We've shown our maximum commitment to the crossing. Police are in municipal buildings, due to violence, identified extremists are at large.

They'll have to prepare. I've been begging the internationals, counting on April 23rd not to repeat itself in autumn or winter. If you don't have any gram guarantees, we should reconsider and prepare more”, he said.