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CEC decision on Serbian List/ US Embassy: Undermines US-Kosovo partnership

2026-02-02 17:58:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The Central Election Commission's decision not to approve the list of candidates for deputies of the Serbian List is "in violation of the right of citizens to democratically elect their representatives."

"Any attempt to violate this basic principle undermines the partnership between the United States and Kosovo ," a spokesperson for the US Embassy in Pristina told Radio Free Europe.

On January 31, the CEC announced the final results of the December 28 snap parliamentary elections. But during the meeting, the Commission members approved the candidate lists of all parties except the Serbian List – the main Serb party in Kosovo that has the support of Belgrade.

Three CEC members voted in favor, two against from the Vetevendosje Movement, and the remaining members abstained. The Serbian List on February 2nd appealed to the Electoral Panel for Annexes and Submissions about this CEC decision. Igor Simic from this entity said that the decision is "illegal, anti-Serbian and discriminatory", adding that he expects the ECAP to "abolish it".

Meanwhile, Serbian chief diplomat Marko Djuric has strongly condemned the decision of the main institution for organizing elections in Kosovo. Djuric has described this decision as another serious attack on the rights of the Serbian people in Kosovo.

“Instead of easing tensions and restoring trust, we are witnessing new steps that deepen distrust and confirm that the systematic disenfranchisement of Serbs remains the practice and not the exception,” Djuric wrote in X.

During the meeting, the head of the CEC, Kreshnik Radoni?, described as "nonsense" the disapproval of the composition of the Serbian List by the members of the Commission, arguing that the deadline for complaints had passed since the votes had already been recounted and, according to the laws, no complaints are foreseen for such a process.

Meanwhile, Eugen Cakolli from the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) stated that the CEC committed violations, initially by announcing results without the legal deadline for complaints, and then by announcing "partial" results.

"What happened today is absurd. Any member who voted against or abstained, if they had real doubts about the results, was the one who should have complained. The situation is not resolved by political voting within the CEC nor by blocking or allowing results according to the interests of the moment ," he said.

The incumbent Prime Minister Albin Kurti's LVV, which won the December elections, had previously attempted to prevent the Serbian List from participating in the elections. However, the ECAP has repeatedly overturned the CEC's decisions.

In the Kosovo Assembly, ten seats are reserved for the Serb community. The Serb List won nine in the December elections, while one was secured by Nenad Raši? from the Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival. The LVV has steadfastly maintained that the Serb List is “an extended arm of Belgrade.”

As one of the reasons why it does not want to cooperate with him, it cites the fact that it has never distanced itself from its former deputy leader, Milan Radoi?i?, who took responsibility for the armed attack in Banjska in September 2023. Kurti's party is open to cooperation with Raši? and insists that the positions in the Government or the Assembly of Kosovo, which by the Constitution belong to representatives of the Serbian community, be given to his party.

But the Constitutional Court of Kosovo ruled last week that the deputy speaker of the Assembly from among the Serb community can only be appointed by the largest parliamentary party of this community, which in this case is the Serbian List. The announcement of the results by the CEC comes after the completion of the full recount of regular votes, after discrepancies were found in the votes of the candidates for deputies.

Only after the deadlines for complaints to the ECAP and the Supreme Court have expired, the CEC can certify the results and pave the way for the formation of the country's new institutions. /REL