Lista Serbe – the largest party of Kosovo Serbs – announced on Friday that it will participate in the February 9 parliamentary elections in Kosovo.
In a reaction on Facebook, Lista Serbe said that among the reasons for its decision to participate in the elections was an incident that happened on Thursday, when its deputies were prevented from entering the hall of the Assembly of Kosovo.
The deputies of the Serbian List appear in the Assembly of Kosovo once every six months in order to maintain their mandate and ensure the continuation of receiving salaries.
On Thursday, they were not allowed to enter the Assembly by deputies of the ruling party, Vetëvendosje Movement, as well as the Speaker of the Assembly, Glauk Konjufca, who accused them of misuse of public money.
Referring to this incident, Lista Serbe said: "For this reason, we use the opportunity to inform the public that Lista Serbe, stronger than ever, will participate in the elections."
"We will win all ten mandates intended for the Serbian people and we will preserve the unity and harmony of the Serbian people in this area. The Serbian people will show in the elections who they believe in and who they want as their representatives," she said.
Until Friday's announcement, it was not entirely clear whether Lista Serbe - which enjoys the support of official Belgrade - would participate in the election, even though its chairman, Zlatan Ellek, had announced participation last month.
"Representatives of the Serbian List are the only ones who represent the interests of the Serbian people in Kosovo, and for this very reason we are an eyesore for the regime of [Kosovo Prime Minister] Albin Kurti, but also for international representatives," said Lista Serbe, which has boycotted parliamentary sessions since November 2022.
In the current composition of the Assembly of Kosovo, nine of the ten seats guaranteed for the Serbian community belong to the Serbian List.
Its MPs do not participate in the sessions, due to the "strategic action" - as they described the boycott of Kosovo's institutions - but appear once every six months, in order not to lose their mandates.
Until Thursday's incident, the deputies of the Serbian List were signed into the Assembly without any obstacles.
The Democratic Institute of Kosovo said on Thursday that the deputies of the Serbian List were illegally prevented by the president Konjufca and the deputies of the parliamentary majority to participate in the works of the Assembly.
"Although the Serbian List has boycotted the works of the Assembly since 2022, and the same were presented to the Assembly only for the purpose of not completing the mandate, their obstruction in today's session constitutes a violation of the constitutional mandate of the deputy", said the Institute, adding that he continuously criticized the Serbian List for not participating in the works of the Assembly. /REL (A2 Televizion)
