Kosovo election authority bans main ethnic Serb party from parliamentary vote

Dec 23, 2024

Kosovo’s election authority on Monday barred the main ethnic Serb party from competing in the upcoming parliamentary election, justifying the move by pointing to its nationalist stance and close ties to Serbia.

The Central Election Commission declined to certify Kosovo’s main ethnic Serb party, Srpska Lista, or Serb List.

Some commission’s members mentioned how Srpska Lisa leader Zlatan Elek has never referred to Kosovo as an independent republic, but instead as “Kosovo i Metohija,” meaning Serbia’s autonomous province of Kosovo, as Belgrade calls it.

The commission officials also said that the Serb party holds close ties with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and other Serb leaders who also refuse to recognize Kosovo’s independence.

There was no immediate reaction from Srpska Lista.

The move may further aggravate the already tense ties between Kosovo and Serbia, despite efforts by the international community to normalize them.

Vučić criticized the move in an Instagram post, describing the Serb List Party as the “only political opponent” of Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

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