PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) 鈥 Kosovo鈥檚 main ethnic Serb party on Tuesday said its ban from the upcoming general election is 鈥渋nstitutional and political violence鈥 against the ethnic minority.
Zlatan Elek of Srpska Lista, or Serb List, said the move was 鈥渄one on the orders of Albin in order to gain some easy political points,鈥 adding they would appeal the decision. Elek was referring to Kosovo鈥檚 prime minister, Albin Kurti.
The Central Election Commission declined to certify Srpska Lista, justifying the move by pointing to its nationalist stance and close ties to Serbia.
The Srspka Lista party has nine out of the 10 lawmakers the ethnic Serb minority currently has in the 120-seat parliament.
Kosovo , which is expected to be a key test for Kurti, whose governing party won in a landslide in 2021. European Union-facilitated negotiations to normalize ties with neighboring Serbia are a top priority for any Cabinet in power after the polls.
Western powers also expressed concern about the move, fearing it may further aggravate the already tense ties between Kosovo and Serbia.
Kosovo was a Serbian province until a war broke out between Serbian government forces and ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo, which left about 11,400 dead, mainly ethnic Albanians. NATO鈥檚 78-day bombing campaign in 1999 ended the war and pushed Serbian forces out. Kosovo proclaimed independence in 2008, which Serbia doesn鈥檛 recognize.
Belgrade still considers Kosovo as its province and has a major influence on the ethnic Serb minority living there.
Serb President Aleksandar Vu膷i膰 criticized the move to ban the party, saying 鈥淜urti is trying to root out the Serb people from (our) southern province.鈥
Kurti considers the Srpska Lista as the 鈥減olitical branch of and of Serb state terrorism.鈥
Radoicic, a politician and wealthy businessman with ties to Serbia鈥檚 ruling populist party and Vu膷i膰, was among 45 people charged in Kosovo in connection with a gunfight last year in which a Kosovar police officer was killed following Serb gunmen. He is free and under investigation in Serbia, which refuses to extradite him to Kosovo.
The prime minister accused the Serb party of being behind all the incidents in the four northern municipalities, where most of the ethnic Serb minority lives.
鈥淪rpska Lista unfortunately represents Serbia's widest and the highest level of intervention into Kosovo鈥檚 internal affairs and in our democratic elections,鈥 he said at a news conference.
Kurti accused Belgrade of being behind two terrorist groups on their 鈥減lanning, financing and offering logistics鈥 to commit terror attacks in Kosovo.
Vu膷i膰 has planned other attacks in Kosovo during the new year festivities and Orthodox Christmas to deflect attention from the 鈥渋nternal tensions in Serbia, the continuous opposing ,鈥 according to Kurti.
___
Semini reported from Tirana, Albania.
___
Follow Llazar Semini at
