Cyrillic Signs Removed, 7 Serbs Held Before Kosovo Vote
In the final week before the June 7 snap election, Pristina authorities remove Cyrillic signs from rail stations in the north and detain seven Serb institution directors.
- A snap election for the assembly of the provisional institutions in Pristina is set for June 7, the third in 15 months.
- Cyrillic signs were removed from four railway stations in the north, along with Serbian flags.
- Seven directors of Serb health and education institutions were detained.
- The Serb List campaign opened on May 28 in Zitkovac near Zvecan under a slogan of one people and one list.
In the closing week of the campaign before the snap election in northern Kosovo and Metohija, authorities in Pristina have taken a series of moves aimed at the Serb community. The provisional institutions in Pristina removed Cyrillic signs from railway stations, replaced Serbian flags and detained seven directors of Serb institutions, with only days left until polling.
The snap election for the assembly of the provisional institutions is scheduled for June 7, already the third such vote in the past 15 months. The Cyrillic markings were taken down at stations of the Serbia Voz rail operator in Zvecan, Leposavic, Ibarska Banja and Lesak. According to accounts from the ground, three ministers of the provisional institutions were present when the signs came down in Zvecan, giving the act an openly political edge in the middle of the race.
What is happening to Serb institutions before the vote?
Alongside the removal of the signs, seven directors of Serb health and education institutions were detained and held. The arrests are justified by suspicion that the directors influenced the freedom of voters, an accusation that further sharpens the mood in the north in the final days of the campaign.
Serb community representatives read these moves as pressure on the electorate just before polling. The deputy head of the Serb List and mayor of Zvecan, Dragisa Milovic, said the actions form part of a systematic effort targeting the daily life of Serbs.
His aim is to make our already hard life bitter, to leave us without a future, so that we leave on our own.
The Serb community has ten reserved seats guaranteed in the assembly of the provisional institutions. The main contest is being fought over those seats, since how many representatives the community will have in Pristina depends on turnout and on the unity of Serb voters.
How is the Serb List campaign going?
The ten-day Serb List campaign began on May 28 in Zitkovac near Zvecan, under the slogan One heart, one people, one list. The message of unity runs through every appearance by the list’s leaders in the final stretch.
The head of the Serb List, Zlatan Elek, urged voters to stand together and firmly distanced himself from internal divisions.
There is no room for divisions or for quarrels among ourselves.
The campaign has centered on a few key themes:
- unity of the Serb electorate and the highest possible turnout on polling day,
- defense of the ten reserved seats in the assembly of the provisional institutions,
- protection of Serb institutions, their staff and daily life in the north.
A third election cycle in 15 months speaks for itself about the instability of the institutional framework in northern Kosovo and Metohija. Ahead of June 7, the open question is how far the removal of the signs and the detention of directors will shape whether Serbs turn out at all, and with how many seats they will emerge from the vote.
Will the final week of the campaign mobilize Serb voters or discourage them from turning out on June 7?
