Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti accused Serbia of directly interfering in the parliamentary elections in Kosovo on February 9th and of influencing the elections of Serbian MPs and MPs from other minorities.
"The Serbian state apparatus has made extraordinary efforts to harm rival Serbian entities, especially the Party of Freedom, Justice and Survival and the Serbian Democratic Party, as well as voters of entities from other communities, mainly Roma and Ashkali," Kurti said today.
The Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival is led by Nenad Rašić, who is a minister in Kurti's government, appointed after the removal of the leading Serbian party with Belgrade's support, the Serbian List, from Kosovo's institutions.
Rašić, speaking with Kurti at a conference in Pristina, said that the Serbian authorities are using Kosovo Serbs as a governance mechanism, but also as an element of destructiveness.
"They do not want us to have full integration and harmonious life in Kosovo, but quite the opposite," said Rašić.
Some representatives of almost all other Serb political entities withdrew from the race after receiving threats, Kurti said. He said these cases were recorded in four Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo, as well as in the other six municipalities in the south of the country.
"For most of these cases, our institutions have evidence that, for the sake of the privacy and security of Serbian citizens, is not useful to make public," Kurti said.
The EU observation mission, in presenting its preliminary findings on the February 9 elections, pointed out that Serbia interfered in the elections by pressuring Serbian voters in Kosovo.
Germany has also accused Serbia of interfering in the elections in Kosovo.
According to data from the Central Election Commission of Kosovo, the Serbian List - which enjoys the support of official Belgrade - received over 38.000 votes, while Rašić's party received around 4.000 votes.
The Constitution of Kosovo guarantees the Serbian community ten out of 120 seats in the Assembly and another ten to other non-majority communities.
Marta Temido, head of the delegation of MEPs, said in late February that the observation mission had determined that Serbian authorities had interfered in the Kosovo elections by supporting the Serbian List – one of six Serbian parties that participated in the elections.
Kurti accused Serbia of hybrid intervention, through financial bait and conditioning, blackmail, intimidation and threats to force voters to vote for the Serbian List.
He stressed that the Kosovo authorities "identified seven instances or state actors, the first being Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, the second the main terrorist Milan Radoičić, the head of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija of the Serbian Government Petar Petković, the Serbian Intelligence Agency (BIA), Serbian media under government control, the Serbian List and illegal Serbian structures."
"The President of Serbia himself called on all Serbian state and non-state actors to get involved in the Kosovo elections. To that end, the executive role was played by the main terrorist Milan Radoičić, that is, the man who was given responsibility for Kosovo by the President of Serbia," Kurti said.
Kurti said that Serbia used "at least 10 methods" to interfere in the elections, such as financial baiting through the provision of a monthly payment of around 170 euros for all adults, threats of losing financial benefits, divisions among Srpska Lista rivals, blackmail and pressure not to support entities other than Srpska Lista, among others.
A Serb candidate for parliament told Radio Free Europe (RSE) a few days before election day that he lost his job after speaking out against the Serb List. He said that on January 27, a member of the provisional municipal government in Srbica, Nebojša S. Tomašević, told him that he would "make sure that he no longer receives a salary from the Serbian budget, because he is a traitor."
On March 7th, the Serbian List claimed that Rašić's Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival secured a mandate in the Kosovo Assembly "thanks" to the votes of Albanians in places such as Podujevo, Shtime, Suva Reka, Ferizaj, Malisheva and Kačanik.
In a statement to RFE/RL, Rašić said that for the last two years he has been the Minister for Communities and Returns in the Government of Kosovo and that through his work he has gained the trust of other non-majority communities living in Kosovo, not just the Serbian community.
Serbian President Vučić said after the elections in Kosovo on February 9 that the Serbian List marked "a great and important victory for Serbia, demonstrating "the strong commitment of the Serbian people to preserve their homeland and to rely on their Serbia."
Since its founding in 2013, the Serbian List has won over 90 percent of the votes of the Serbian community in all elections in which it has participated, but the EU Monitoring Mission has pointed to the "monopoly and pressures" of its officials.
In the last two years, this party has pursued a "boycott policy", in line with its decision to withdraw from Kosovo's institutions in the north.
It is not yet clear whether they will actively participate in Kosovo's institutions in the coming period or whether they will continue with the boycott.
Belgrade rejects Kurti's claims
The Director of the Serbian Government's Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petković, stated that the Kosovo Prime Minister had presented "a series of notorious lies, spin and manipulations", accusing the Serbian authorities of directly interfering in the Kosovo elections held in February.
Petković said that Kurti, who held a press conference with Kosovo Minister Nenad Nešić today, confirmed that Kosovo Minister "Nenada Rašić is his Trojan horse", and that he is desperate for the victory of the Serbian List and the support of the Serbian people.
"Belgrade, led by Aleksandar Vučić, will continue to support the Serbian List and the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija and will continue to do so publicly and transparently, as all aid from Belgrade has always gone through official channels and financial flows, and that is what hurts Kurti, that he has not succeeded in separating the Serbs from their only state of Serbia through any terror or violence," Petković said.
He pointed out that the best evidence of electoral engineering is that a month after the elections, there are still no final results, Beta reported.
Petković said that "Kurti is the one who is most directly interfering in the political situation in Serbia by directly supporting the colored revolution, the alleged student protests, the blockades and the Serbian opposition."
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