Belgrade-Backed Kosovo Serb Party Barred from Local Polls

Kosovo’s Central Election Commission rejected the Srpska Lista party’s application to compete in the October 12 local elections, sparking expressions of concern from Western diplomats.

Perparim Isufi, August 21, 2025

Kosovo’s Central Election Commission at its meeting on August 21, 2025. Photo: BIRN

Kosovo’s Central Election Commission, CEC, on Thursday voted not to certify the Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista party to run in the October 12 local elections – a move that caused Western diplomats to voice concern about a possible lack of democratic representation for all communities in the country.

In a vote that saw Srpska Lista’s application supported by two out of 11 commission members, two voted against while seven abstained.

Kosovo law allows any political entity to appeal a CEC decision to the Election Complaints and Appeals Panel, ECAP, within 24 working hours of receiving the decision. The ECAP has 48 hours to rule on the complaint.

During Thursday’s CEC meeting, commission members from the Vetevendosje party opposed Srpska Lista’s certification, citing the alleged links of some of their candidates with the Serbia-run ‘parallel institutions’ operating in Kosovo outside central government control.

“[Some] candidates from Srpska Lista are part of the [Serbia-run] parallel structures and some are part of the organisations that our state consider to be terrorist organisations, wanted by the judiciary. Therefore I invite you to not vote in favour of Srpska Lista’s certification,” Alban Krasniqi, a CEC member from Vetevendosje, said during the meeting.

But Srpska Lista’s CEC member, Gordana Laban Zuvic, said that her party’s application has overcome all the CEC’s administrative checks before being put to a formal vote.

“If there is any evidence, let the institutions perform their duties… There are institutions [which are] responsible for doing this, let them persecute criminals and arrest them,” Laban Zuvic said.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo voiced concerns following the vote, saying that “the right to participate in free and fair elections is a cornerstone of democratic governance and an essential element of inclusive political life”.

“Exclusion of political actors undermines democratic pluralism, weakens trust in institutions, and reduces opportunities for all communities to be fairly represented,” the mission added.

Before the vote, Anu Prattipati, the US ambassador’s deputy in Pristina, met Kosovo’s caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti, who is also head of Vetevendosje, and concerns on behalf of the US.

“We believe that all citizens of Kosovo should have the opportunity to elect their representatives at local level,” Prattipati told journalists after the meeting.

Strong criticism came from Belgrade The head of the Serbian government’s office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, accused the CEC of making this decision “under the direct order of Albin Kurti”.

Petkovic said that “Kurti’s attack” on Srpska Lista is “also an attack on all the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija”.

This is not first time that the CEC has refused Srpska Lista’s certification for an election. In December last year, CEC had rejected its certification for the February 2025 parliamentary polls, but the party won its appeal at the ECAP.

Copyright BIRN 2007