Kosovo’s Minister for Communities and Returns, Nenad Rashić, expects dialogue between Belgrade and Prishtina to resume following the Student List’s victory in Serbia, with the aim of normalising relations and allowing both sides to focus on European integration.
“Normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia is part of the European agenda. I expect this to be one of the first topics addressed once the new government in Serbia is formed. The stalled dialogue should resume,” Rashić told Radio Free Europe.
Kosovo and Serbia have been engaged in EU-mediated dialogue since 2011. However, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has made the continuation of high-level political talks conditional on Serbia extraditing Milan Radoičić, who has claimed responsibility for the armed attack in Banjska.
The Student List has so far made no statement on Banjska or Radoičić.
The political movement, which emerged from student-led anti-corruption protests across Serbia, maintains that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia under the country’s Constitution and that it will act in accordance with it.
Before the elections, several Student List candidates announced that they would, among other things, review the agreements reached as part of the dialogue with Kosovo.
According to preliminary estimates, the Student List won 52.65% of the vote, while United Serbia, led by former president Aleksandar Vučić, received 39.22%.
Radio Free Europe has approached the Government of Kosovo for comment on the Student List’s victory in Serbia but is still awaiting a response.
Rashić, meanwhile, said it should not be expected that the Student List would publicly speak out against its own country’s Constitution when it comes to Kosovo.
“What political representative or member of a broader political movement would say they will not respect the law and Constitution? This is called ‘playing it safe’ when you do not have enough information to engage more deeply with a subject. But the answer lies in the fact that the Student List has also expressed support for European integration,” Rashić stressed.
As a political representative of Kosovo Serbs, Rashić also expects the “misuse” of money and other resources coming from Serbia to stop.
He hopes the new government in Serbia will not “exert pressure” on members of the Serb community in Kosovo, as he believes the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has done through the Serbian List, the main political party representing Serbs in Kosovo, established with the support of Aleksandar Vučić.
In Kosovo’s most recent elections, the Serbian List won nine of the ten seats reserved in the Assembly for the Serb community, while Rashić’s Freedom, Justice and Survival party secured the remaining seat.
The Serbian List has not commented on the Student List’s victory in Sunday’s elections.
