Extraordinary parliamentary elections are being held in Kosovo today (December 28). Previous regular parliamentary elections were held on February 9th this year. After several months Assembly blockades of Kosovo and, after two unsuccessful attempts to form a Government, the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, announced extraordinary parliamentary elections.
Photo: Milica Srejić/VremeExtraordinary parliamentary elections in Kosovo in 2025.
Polling stations are open from 7:00 a.m. for voters. Three lists from the Serbian community ran in the elections: Serbian List, For Freedom, Justice and Survival and the Kosovo Alliance. 10 parliamentary seats out of a total of 120 have been reserved for them in the Kosovo Assembly.
In the previous elections, Self-Determination, whose leader is Aljbin Kurti, won the most votes. However, not enough to form a government. While the Serbian List won 9 mandates, and Nenad Rašić, the leader of the party For Freedom, Justice and Survival, won one mandate. Regardless, during the constitution of the Assembly Kosova Rašić was then elected as the vice-president of the Assembly from among the Serbian community.
Lethargy and collective voting in North Mitrovica
On the walls of the cafe "Vuk" better known in North Mitrovica as "Grej", which in recent years was connected with the restaurant of the same name (which was sealed in April 2024) owned by Milan Radoičić, two flags of the state of Serbia were placed. Above that cafe is the headquarters of the Serbian List.
The traditional collective vote for Srpska lista was held. Sympathizers of this party gathered in front of the headquarters of the Serbian List on the promenade, and together with the president of the Serbian List and the acting director of the Clinical Hospital Center of Kosovska Mitrovica, Zlatan Elek, went to the collective vote.
Citizens were not in the mood to talk to journalists. While on the ground, there was significantly less presence of the media than was the case for the local elections, which were significant due to the issue of the return of Serbs to local governments.
Before the elections were held, in her conversation with young Serbs, the reporter mostly received answers that they were not interested in these elections.
Dušan Radaković, one of the election observers from the civil sector in front of Democracy in Action, spoke to the media two hours after the opening of the polling stations and said that the election morning was going peacefully.
According to his opinion, the irregularity was committed in the Technical School in North Mitrovica where he votes because the majority of the members of the electoral committee are Albanians who do not speak the Serbian language.
Photo: Milica Srejić/VremeDušan Radaković, election observer for Democracy in action
"Of the five members of the electoral committee, four members were of Albanian nationality," Radaković points out.
He emphasized that he had a problem at his polling station to come to an agreement with the people in order to vote, even though he speaks the Albanian language. "Imagine someone who doesn't know a word of Albanian, how will he manage. At that polling station, 95 percent of voters are of Serbian nationality," concluded Radaković.
Serbian media without problems with CEC
In this election cycle, the Serbian media had no problems with accreditation for the elections, as was the case in October for local elections, when the Central Election Commission of Kosovo (CEC) did not accredit no Serbian media.
However, in this election cycle, the CEC sent leaflets only in the Albanian language to some journalists with accreditations, which briefly explain the obligations and rules for observers. In October, journalists reporting in the Serbian language received such brochures translated.
According to the Law on the Use of Languages, article number one stipulates the equal status of the Albanian and Serbian languages as the official languages of Kosovo, and equal rights for their use in all institutions of Kosovo.
Election campaign
Given that the local elections have recently ended, and that the mayors took their oaths in most municipalities at the beginning of December, the campaign for special elections lasted a short time due to limited time.
In North Mitrovica, the campaign started traditionally with the pre-election convention of the Serbian List. The speeches were similar to the previous campaign. The candidates called for the preservation of "unity" and the "struggle for survival and staying in these areas".
When they started calling the candidates of the Serbian List by name to join them on stage, the citizens started going home in large numbers.
On the same day, Aljbin Kurti opened the second newly built bridge connecting North and South Mitrovica, which is located next to the main bridge on the Ibar.
On that occasion, the reporters found a lack of screws on the fences, and one part of the fence was swaying. Several eyewitnesses at that moment spoke about the fact that there were almost no fences and tiles in the morning, so the workers had their hands full until 4:00 p.m., when the prime minister arrived on a technical mandate.
The pre-election campaign was also marked by the fact that two candidates left the party of Nenad Rašić, For Freedom, Justice and Survival. One of the candidates, Gordana Mihajlović, said after leaving that "the only policy that guarantees the survival of Serbs in Kosovo is the policy led by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić."
