Advertisements for healthcare jobs and financial aid for the unemployed from the Serbian budget... Household appliances and agricultural subsidies from the Kosovo Government... All in exchange for "safe votes".
These are some of the accusations that are permeating the election campaign among the Serbian community in Kosovo.
Some of them refer to the Serbian List - the largest Serb party in Kosovo, which has the support of official Belgrade - while others to the Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival, whose leader, Nenad Rašić, heads the Ministry for Communities and Returns in the Kosovo Government.
Political opponents of the Serbian List say that the provision of social assistance of 20,000 dinars (about 170 euros) for 5,000 people - which was announced last year by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, is "reserved" exclusively for the "safe voters" of the Serbian List.
According to them, officials of the Serbian List are also preparing the lists in their offices.
Radio Free Europe spoke with several citizens in the municipalities of Gracanica and Leposavic, who claim the same thing, but do not want to speak publicly.
Officials of the Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival, on the other hand, are accused of distributing household appliances and agricultural subsidies from the Kosovo Government budget to win votes.
The Criminal Code of Kosovo provides for a sentence of one to five years in prison for any person who seeks or obtains any unfair advantage, with the aim of voting for a particular person.
Millija Biševac from the Serbian People's Movement was among the first to say, on January 20, that the citizens of Zubin Potok, instead of going to the National Employment Service of the Republic of Serbia, were heading to the offices of the Serbian List "to get on the lists" to receive the 20,000 dinars of assistance that the Serbian state has promised for 5,000 unemployed people.
This assistance was provided for by a decision of the Government of Serbia, which was presented by President Vučić himself, following the closure of Serbian institutions in Kosovo.
Radio Free Europe contacted the Serbian List and the Office for Kosovo in the Serbian Government to ask them about the accusations that this aid is given exclusively to "suitable" people and "safe voters of the Serbian List", but did not receive a response.
On February 3, the director of the Office for Kosovo, Petar Petkovic, said that from the middle of this month, the payment of financial assistance will begin for the first 5,000 unemployed people in Kosovo, who will receive 20,000 dinars per month.
Then, as he said, the collection of documentation for a number of other unemployed people will begin, "in order to provide financial assistance to all those who have no other income."
Petkovic added that the assistance from the Serbian state has nothing to do with the elections in Kosovo and that these are activities that "last throughout the year."
However, he did not comment on allegations that lists for assistance are being prepared by Serbian List officials at the party's premises.
Vučić, Petković and other senior Serbian officials are constantly calling on Serbs in Kosovo to vote for the Serbian List, while the Commissariat for Refugees of the Republic of Serbia is engaged in sending displaced persons to Kosovo to vote in the February 9 elections.
Petkovic said that the people who will receive assistance from the Serbian state are registered with the National Employment Service and that they do not receive income from other sources of employment.
In addition to assistance of around 170 euros for 5,000 unemployed people, the Serbian Government's decision also provides for 60,000 dinars (around 500 euros) for an additional 300 unemployed people, free books for students of schools operating within the Serbian system in Kosovo, as well as food supplements.
Also, the employment of 100 health workers was announced, followed by additional investments in the Clinical Hospital Center in North Mitrovica, as well as incentives for micro and small businesses and farmers.
The Director of the Office for Kosovo in the Government of Serbia, Petkovic, said that competitions for new positions in health institutions have already opened.
These are positions in the Health Houses of Pristina, Obiliq, Graçanica, Zubin Potok, Fushë Kosova, Gushterica e Poshtme, Osojani, for the Health Centers of Prizren and Peja, for the pharmaceutical institutions of Pristina and Gjilan. All of these operate in Serbian environments in Kosovo, within the Serbian system.
Otherwise, even during the 2021 election campaign, officials from the Serbian List have announced competitions for the allocation of housing or for new jobs.
On the other hand, the leader of the Serbian Democracy in Kosovo, Aleksandar Arsenijevic, accused Nenad Rašić's Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival of "buying votes with funds from the Kosovo Government."
Rašić was appointed Minister of Communities and Returns by the current Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, after the Serb List left Kosovo's institutions, in an effort to prevent the replacement of Serbian license plates in northern Kosovo with license plates of the Republic of Kosovo.
Arsenijevic published a video, allegedly showing lists being made for aid from the Ministry for Communities and Returns at the premises of the Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival in Leposavic.
He called on the competent authorities to "react urgently".
In the video - the authenticity of which Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty could not confirm - a woman can be heard asking if the aid is being distributed through a political party. Another woman responds by saying: "The Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival of Nenad Rašić and Marina Bogojević," and then adds that "you can register for aid in the form of furniture or household appliances."
Kosovo Police for the North Region confirmed to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that Demokracia Srpska has reported on alleged vote buying, that one person has been questioned, and that a case has been initiated for "giving or receiving a bribe."
In a statement to Radio Free Europe, Rašić denied the alleged vote buying, adding that these are "regular programs" of the Ministry for Communities and Returns.
"In the last two years, we have tried to expand our activities in the north. In our appeals, we have included all relevant authorities there, and first of all the municipality. If someone has downloaded an application for any of our programs from our website and linked it to vote buying... this is meaningless," said Rashic.
Asked if the ministry he leads distributes household appliances, Rashiq replied: "As far as I know, no."
However, he said he could not explain how and when the video recording was made, which allegedly shows a list being made for this aid at his party's offices.
"Maybe the author of that recording knows. I think it's disgusting that someone is trying to spread the word that votes are bought with household appliances or furniture," said Rashiq.
The campaign for the February 9 elections in Kosovo began on January 11 and will last until the opening of polling stations.
Six entities from the Serbian community are in the race: Serbian List, Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival, Serbian People's Movement, Serbian Democracy, Party of Kosovo Serbs and Civic People's Justice./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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