Albin Kurti was greeted with protests at the electoral rally, the reaction of the Vetevendosja Movement

The Vetëvendosje Movement, the ruling party, was greeted with protests on Monday in the Municipality of Skenderaj, during a visit as part of the campaign for the February 9 parliamentary elections.

Some citizens protested in front of the venue where Albin Kurti – Kosovo's prime minister, who is seeking another term in office – was scheduled to declare his candidacy, and were heard shouting "Thaci, Thaci", a reference to former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci, and the former leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which has traditionally been at the forefront of the race in this municipality.

In the 2021 elections, PDK secured 70.9 percent of the votes in this municipality, while the Vetëvendosje Movement secured 20 percent.

According to images published on social media, Kosovo Police was forced to intervene in the action of the protesters, who also used pyrotechnic devices.

Kosovo Police officials have told Radio Free Europe that there are currently no arrests in this incident.

Through its official Facebook page, the Vetëvendosje Movement said that "the attempt to prevent the rally in the city of Skenderaj" had failed.

"We continue from corner to corner of the country," the post said.

The Minister of Culture, Hajrullah Çeku, has condemned this reception in Skenderaj, while describing the protesters as "cowards".

"Forget about stopping us. We are breaking bastions one by one, corner by corner. Yesterday in Decan, today in Drenica, and every day up to 500 thousand hearts of February 9," he said in a post on the social network Facebook.

Members of civil society have criticized Çeku for the language he used.

The network of non-governmental organizations, Democracy in Action (DnV), said days ago that political entities have increased the use of inflammatory or hate speech in the second week of the election campaign.

In a press conference, Violeta Haxholli from this organization said that 20 percent of the campaign, which launched on January 11, has contained such language so far.

According to DnV, the Vetevendosje Movement used inciting or hate speech in 25 percent of its election activities, the Democratic League of Kosovo in 20 percent, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and NISMA Coalition in 18 percent, and the Democratic Party of Kosovo in 11 percent.

28 political entities with 1,280 candidates have been certified for these elections.

The February 9 elections will be the first regular parliamentary elections to be held in Kosovo since its declaration of independence in 2008. /REL/