Serbia’s key elections reach Kosovo Serbs amid political pressure and a search for alternatives

Belgrade – A few hundred kilometres away from Belgrade, other Serbs are looking to the 25 October elections as a potentially decisive moment for their future. They are not among the record 100,000 diaspora Serbs registered to vote, nor are they Serbs from Republika Srpska, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, which remains at the centre of some of the murkiest vote-rigging operations. They are the 115,000 Kosovo Serbs registered to vote, caught between Belgrade and Pristina.

“The political divisions we see in Serbia do not translate directly into voting patterns among Kosovo Serbs. This is a different political environment,” explains Miodrag Marinković, director of the Centre for Affirmative Social Actions (CASA), a civil society organisation that promotes dialogue between ethnic communities in the city of Mitrovica, speaking to The New Union Post. However, “growing dissatisfaction with Belgrade’s policies towards Kosovo is creating greater openness to political alternatives, including the student movement” and its 250-member list.

In Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Zvečan, Leposavić and other towns with a significant Serb population in northern Kosovo, “politics is viewed largely through the lens of ethnic conflict and relations with the Albanian majority,” while Belgrade is seen as the community’s principal protector. “That helps explain why Kosovo Serbs have traditionally supported whoever holds power in Belgrade,” Marinković says, pointing to an attitude that has persisted from Slobodan Milošević‘s times to Aleksandar Vučić‘s. “Support reflects a perceived dependence on the Serbian state as much as political or ideological identification with the ruling party.”

However, Marinković is keen to stress that “this alignment should not be mistaken for unconditional loyalty.” The Serb List is currently the main political vehicle of Vučić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), but room for political alternatives is growing, particularly when the student movement directly addresses Kosovo Serbs’ needs.

An opportunity for change

Although there is little visible election campaigning in northern Kosovo ahead of the 25 October vote, this “does not necessarily mean voters lack access to political information”, Marinković notes. However, serious constraints on independent choice stem from institutional pressure. Public sector employment and dependence on institutions funded and controlled by Belgrade give the Serb List and Vučić’s ruling party “considerable influence” over voters. “When people believe their livelihood could depend on political loyalty, their freedom to choose is compromised,” he warns.

Moreover, Kosovo Serbs must travel to Serbia to cast their ballots. This has a significant impact on voter participation, giving “those who control transportation and institutional resources greater influence over voter mobilisation.” Combined with limited independent oversight, allegations of fictitious voter registration, unequal access to campaign resources and restrictions on media freedom, “this raises serious concerns about voters’ ability to exercise a free and independent choice” and about the integrity of the electoral process as a whole.

It is no coincidence that Srpska Lista has accused the Student List of serving the interests of Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the authorities in Pristina. Marinković describes this as “crude political spin and a standard tactic” to discredit opponents. However, these accusations have “less credibility” among Kosovo Serbs, “because people have experienced first-hand the damaging consequences of policies pursued by Srpska Lista and Belgrade,” which have led to widespread corruption and a symbiotic relationship between organised crime and politics.

Marinković is confident that “support for the student movement is growing despite these attacks” and that a Student List victory could create “an opportunity to change how Serbia uses its remaining leverage“. This includes its relations with the five EU member states that do not recognise Kosovo – Cyprus, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Spain – to pursue “practical solutions that improve the lives of Kosovo Serbs and protect their rights.”

Two major issues remain unresolved in the EU-mediated dialogue on the normalisation of relations between Serbia and Kosovo: Belgrade’s recognition of Pristina’s sovereignty and the establishment of the Association of Serb-majority Municipalities in Kosovo, as envisaged in the 2013 Brussels Agreement.

A change of government in Belgrade “would not fundamentally alter” the diplomatic constraints Serbia faces, nor would it resolve the deadlock on its own. However, it could create space for “a more credible and accountable approach” if the Student List were to shift towards “policies centred on people” – meaning the preservation of essential services, improved security and giving the community “a meaningful voice” in decisions affecting its future.

This could be achieved within the legal framework provided by Kosovo’s Constitution, which allows the Serbian community to live as citizens of Kosovo while maintaining ties with Serbia. “A new government would have to demonstrate that it can put these priorities ahead of the partisan interests, corruption and nepotism that have characterised policy so far,” Marinković concludes.

The Student List’s position on Kosovo

Meanwhile, the Student List has set out its position on Kosovo and the protection of the Serb minority’s interests more clearly. “We will fight to preserve Kosovo and Metohija as part of Serbia,” its programme states, making it clear that “we will consistently oppose the unilaterally declared independence of the so-called Republic of Kosovo and will not allow its membership in international organisations.”

A “special effort” is promised to “improving the position of Serbs in Kosovo and Metohija“, not only in the six Serb-majority municipalities but also “in places with a significant Serb population located outside these municipalities”. Such places should be “administratively connected and incorporated into local self-government units with a Serbian majority”, with the broader goal of achieving “the greatest possible autonomy from the provisional self-government institutions in Pristina.”

In northern Kosovo, “we will preserve our educational, health, social and cultural institutions,” with particular emphasis on the University of Pristina “with its temporary seat in Kosovska Mitrovica.” The Student List also pledges to “protect our cultural and religious heritage, as well as the property of the Serbian Orthodox Church“.