Osmani: Kosovo is ready for new elections in the north

The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, told the Reuters news agency on Wednesday that Kosovo is ready for new elections in the northern municipalities, if the Serbian community, which is the majority in them, signs a petition with such a request.

Although there is a possibility that the elections will be held after the resignations of the mayors elected on April 23, but the petition said it would be a more democratic way and would ensure the participation of Serbs in the elections.

"First of all, we are discussing new elections, early elections, which I think represent a big step towards expansion and offer a long-term solution because they give the Serbs living in the north an instrument to elect the mayors of the municipalities. them, and an opportunity to be represented through a democratic vote, a democratic process", said Mrs. Osmani.

But, before proceeding with a new election process, President Osmani said, it is essential that the international community provide assurance that there will be no interference by Belgrade in it.

" I'm talking about illegal foreign interference in our elections through violence, intimidation and blackmail that they were doing to Serbian candidates and of course interference like last time, when they forced the candidates to withdraw from the election race, making the Serbs who live there not to have any of their candidates on the list and of course they did not participate in the elections then" , she said.

President Osmani justified the actions of the Kosovo police in the northern municipalities where the protests of the Serbian community, which have been continuing since May 26, were violently interrupted last Monday.

" What happened that Friday morning was that the mayors wanted to go to work and because they were stopped by criminal groups, only then did the police intervene. So practically, just like in any other democratic country, if the citizens are endangered by a group of criminal gangs, the police would undoubtedly help them. That's how it happened. They were trying to go to a building belonging to the Republic of Kosovo", she said.

Western diplomacy blames Kosovo for the escalation of the situation in the north of the country while continuing the calls for new elections and a return to the negotiating table to find a way to implement the agreement on the normalization of relations with Serbia, which also includes the establishment of the Association of Majority Municipalities Serbian.

“Unë besoj se ne mund të ecim përpara me këtë proces aq shpejt sa dëshiron Bashkimi Evropian që të ecim. Ata duhet të thërrasin këto takime ku do të diskutohen projekt propozimet. Nuk kam shumë besim se Serbia, sido që të jetë, pajtohet me projekt propozimet që janë në përputhje me kushtetutën e Kosovës. Kështu që ata do të përpiqen të zvarrisin, vonojnë dhe bllokojnë procesin. Por kjo nuk duhet të bllokojë punën tonë me partnerët ndërkombëtarë. Dhe ne jemi të gatshëm, siç thashë, për të zbatuar angazhimet tona. Ne nuk po ikim prej tyre”, tha ajo.

Shtetet e Bashkuara u shprehën të zemëruara me qasjen e Kosovës në veri, duke kritikuar ashpër kryeministrin Albin Kurti dhe duke paralajmëruar pasoja për mungesën e bashkërendimit.

"There are times when we disagree with the international community about tactics. But look, even among best friends, even in families, sometimes you have disagreements. What we don't disagree about, in my estimation with the international community, is where the region should go, and that is Euro-Atlantic integration ," said President Osmani.

The holding of new elections has been proposed by the United States and the European Union, as part of efforts to reduce tensions in the north of Kosovo./VOA