Vucic Calls for Local Vote in Serb-Populated North of Kosovo

(Bloomberg) — Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic urged Kosovo to hold local elections in its Serb-populated north as a way to defuse ethnic tension that risks threatening peace in the Balkans.
At a news conference on Friday, Vucic stopped short of repeating his policy of encouraging ethnic Serbs in Kosovo to defy the Kosovo government, signaling a potential de-escalation. “A solution for the problems in Kosovo that would be satisfactory for Serbs simply does not exist,” he told reporters in Belgrade.
He called for a return to European Union-mediated talks with the former province and reiterated that his country would never formally recognize Kosovo’s split from Serbia. 
Northern Kosovo is home to the biggest remaining Serb community following a 1998-99 war over the territory and Kosovo’s declaration of independence in 2008. 
Under an EU-brokered deal in 2013, Serbs agreed to take part in local and central governments in Kosovo, but walked out in 2021 over alleged discrimination and has boycotted two ballots since.    
Vucic renewed allegations that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti is pressuring the already dwindling Serb community into moving out of Kosovo. 
He called for the return of several hundred Serbs into Kosovo’s police force and reintegration of Serb representatives into Kosovo’s judiciary. He also demanded implementation of an EU-brokered deal under which the Serb community is allowed some autonomy. 
Kurti has moved to crack down down on “parallel,” Serbia-funded institutions and ban the use of the Serbia’s currency, the dinar. Arrests of local Serbs by Kosovo police have also increased tensions, while several thousand NATO-led peacekeepers remain in the area. 
Kurti has defended the measures, saying Kosovo is working to restore law and order in the long-divided north. Foreign Minister Donika Gervalla-Schwarz dismissed Vucic’s demands, accusing him of trying to “sabotage Kosovo’s independence and prevent normalization of relations by keeping tensions” in the region. 
Vucic previously obstructed integration of Serbs in Kosovo’s post-independence society and now “he demands a return to the previous state without even offering reasons for the departure and boycott of institutions,” Gervalla-Schwarz wrote on a Facebook post.
Kosovo’s western partners have criticized Kurti and warned his acts could be inflammatory. US Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien urged Kurti to consult first with his allies before steps to consolidate control in the remaining Serb enclaves. 
(Updates with reaction from Kosovo foreign minister from eighth paragraph)
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