The Serbian List, the largest Serb party in Kosovo, was expected to win nine out of ten municipalities with a Serb majority population in the local elections held on October 12, 2025. According to preliminary results from the Central Election Commission (CEC), in the municipality of Kllokot, the Serbian List received 41,6 percent of the vote, and the decision on the election of the mayor here will be made in the second round.
The president of the Serbian List, Zlatan Elek, declared a convincing victory in all ten municipalities, stating that in the four municipalities north and six municipalities south of the Ibar River, the party has a “two-thirds majority.” He placed special emphasis, however, on the four municipalities in the north.
"What is most important for us is that the four municipalities in the north have been returned to those to whom they belong, to our citizens, who said today with a ballpoint pen and their voices that the Serbian List north of the Ibar River won a convincing victory," Elek said at a press conference.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić congratulated the Serbian list on its victory in municipalities where Serbs predominate.
"The party is always the most important after our state, after our Serbia. I am proud of you, of your struggle, the people of Kosovo and Metohija. Even though they wrote us off, we managed to fight back. They cannot abolish the Serbian name and surname and they never will," Vučić said in a telephone conversation at the Serbian List headquarters in North Mitrovica, followed by the usual chant of "Aco Srbine".
Three years later
Serb representatives are returning to local assemblies after boycotting local elections in April 2023. This was preceded by the withdrawal of Serbs from Kosovo institutions in November 2022, which, for Kosovo Serbs, marked the beginning of perhaps the greatest institutional and political crisis.
In the meantime, the government of Albin Kurti has implemented a series of radical measures, greatly making life difficult for Serbs in Kosovo. Now, the representatives of the Serbian List will be faced with significantly changed circumstances, compared to the period when they last sat on the municipal benches.
Therefore, according to Aleksandar Šljuka from the NGO New Social Initiative (NSI), the elections will be followed by "a process of renewing local institutions that will try to re-establish a functional connection with the community."
This refers to stopping the practice of adopting decisions that directly affected the local Serb community – such as removing signs, murals, and changing street names – but also to personnel changes in local administrations.
"An attempt to annul or amend certain decisions can also be expected. However, given the current institutional blockade at the central level, which the old establishment is exploiting to maintain itself in power, a certain resistance to local authorities' decisions should be expected as a counterbalance to the aforementioned efforts," Šljuka told DW.
Local decision-making, but also the overall atmosphere in the north, he points out, will depend on the way the two levels of government cooperate. It is precisely the "quasi-cohabitation between the local and central levels of government that can become a source of confrontations," which, he believes, do not necessarily have to be violent.
"Confrontations will certainly manifest themselves in the institutional arena - through obstructions, contestations of jurisdiction, and the implementation of measures that will limit the autonomy of local governments, especially in the north. It is expected that the central government will strive to maintain control and minimize the effects of the return of legitimate Serb representatives, while the new municipalities will be under constant supervision and pressure."
Although the threat of more serious non-institutional tensions "currently seems less likely," DW's interlocutor does not rule out the possibility. In this regard, he says, the positioning of Belgrade and Pristina is of particular importance.
"If the repressive policy of the center and the passive approach of Belgrade remain, Kosovo Serbs will face a difficult period," says political scientist Aleksandar Šljuka.
On the other hand, Besa Luža, a political analyst and professor at the University of Pristina, sees the return of Serbs to the leadership of municipalities in the north as a potential for normalization of relations, rather than conflict and tension.
She points out that "it is a good thing that citizens of Serbian nationality, namely the Serbian List and Vučić, seem to have realized that they cannot have influence if they do not participate in political life and institutions in the north," and notes that she hopes for cooperation between local authorities and central institutions.
"I expect normalization (of relations), because the elements that incited conflicts have been removed from the scene - unless Vučić's policy continues to be reduced exclusively to obstruction," Luža points out and adds:
"Ordinary citizens are hostages of Vučić's policies and have very little room for action. But after the formation of the Kosovo government or new elections, new circumstances may arise that will open up more space for dialogue and cooperation."
Kurti's party is in trouble
The elections in the municipalities south of the Ibar River were significantly more uncertain. Officials in 17 of the 38 municipalities will be elected in the next round of elections – among them Pristina and South Mitrovica. In the second round of elections, the Vetëvendosje Movement, the party of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, will face opposition parties in 12 local governments.
When it comes to votes for councilors in local assemblies, the CEC announced that they will be counted today and that results can be expected during the week.
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