Jugosllav Gashiq, a candidate representing the Student List from Kosovo, said on November 7 that there would be no cooperation with the Serbian List, explaining that “there can truly be no cooperation with those who have been the main culprits and responsible for the situation in which Serbs find themselves throughout this entire period.”
The Student List, which emerged from anti-government protests in Serbia, won the early parliamentary elections held in Serbia on October 25, defeating former Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which had been in power for 14 years.
For more than a decade, the Serbian List, the largest political party representing Kosovo Serbs, has dominated the political representation of this community in Kosovo.
The party was established with the backing of the SNS and former Serbian President Vučić, whose support it has relied on in its political activities in Kosovo.
In the Kosovo Assembly, the Serbian List holds nine of the ten seats reserved for the Serb community. It also governs all municipalities in Kosovo with a Serb majority.
Gashiq reiterated his position, previously expressed in late October during an interview with Kosovo-based local radio station Kim, that the Serbian List had been “the implementer of SNS policies in Kosovo,” adding that “we want neither contact nor cooperation with them.”
“They hold certain institutional positions over which we have no influence, but these positions will not protect them from potential criminal liability for the actions they have committed. There are various mechanisms, but the most important thing is that they will be held accountable,” Gashiq told Serbia’s public broadcaster, Radio Television of Serbia (RTS).
According to him, those responsible for the “situation in which the Serbian people find themselves” have no moral right “to lecture others about what they should do.”
Gashiq urged Kosovo Serbs to remain calm, assuring them that “no financial assistance will be discontinued.”
“My message to Serbs here is that, during this transitional period, while we have not yet effectively taken power, they should not fall victim to various rumours spread by the Serbian List, claiming that they will lose their salaries, social assistance, or that we will supposedly betray Kosovo, and so on,” Gashiq stressed.
Speaking about the outgoing government in Belgrade and its approach towards Serbs in Kosovo, he said that SNS-led authorities had publicly claimed to be looking after Kosovo Serbs, but that, in reality, according to Gashiq, the government had betrayed the national interests of the Serbian people.
Gashiq also addressed the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, facilitated by the European Union. According to him, representatives of Serbia’s incoming government will review all agreements reached between the two sides under the Brussels Agreement.
Regarding the dialogue on the normalisation of relations, Ilija Srdanović, the head of the Student List, previously told Radio Free Europe that continuing talks on the “issue of Kosovo and Metohija” was part of the movement’s political programme.
According to Gashiq, other international agreements will also be reviewed, allowing the incoming authorities to correct everything negative that can be addressed.
“We are fully aware of how the previous government in Belgrade treated the people in Kosovo and Metohija. They were stripped of their dignity and subjected to pressure, the imposition of political will, and blackmail through employment. If nothing else, I expect that among the first results, we will soon see the liberation and freedom of the people to express at least their own opinions and, in this way, restore the dignity they have lost,” Gashiq said.
The Student List secured 52.54 per cent of the vote in the October 25 elections, while Vučić’s SNS received 39.29 per cent.
Earlier this week, Serbia’s electoral authorities announced the final election results, paving the way for the formation of new institutions.
The Student List is expected to form Serbia’s new government on its own. However, it remains unclear who its candidate for prime minister will be, and the movement has yet to present a clearly defined political programme.
Following the elections in Serbia, the Serbian List said it “accepted” the results of the parliamentary elections, adding that it remained “committed” to maintaining institutional ties with Belgrade.
