Kosovo’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has decided not to certify the main ethnic Serbian party, effectively barring it from competing in the February 9 parliamentary elections.
The CEC said its main reason for declining to certify Serbian List was its nationalist stance and close ties to Serbia.
Some commission members noted that Serbian List leader Zlatan Elek has never referred to Kosovo as independent and continues to call it Serbia's autonomous province of Kosovo.
The CEC also said that Serbian List has close ties with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and other Serb leaders who also refuse to recognize Kosovo's independence.
There was no immediate reaction from Serbian List.
The move may further aggravate the already tense ties between Kosovo and Serbia despite international efforts to normalize them.
SEE ALSO: EU's Balkan Envoy Says Serbia-Kosovo Stalemate Risks 'Outbursts Of Instability'The parliamentary elections on February 9, 2025, are expected to be a key test for Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti, whose party came to power in 2021 in a landslide.
Vucic claimed on December 23 that Kurti is trying to "eliminate the only opponent" in the elections. He also accused Kurti and his allies of attempting to expel the Serbian people from the southern areas of Kosovo.
Vucic said that he had also spoken with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov about what he considered to be violations of international law by Pristina.
Only the chairman of the CEC, Kreshnik Radoniqi, voted for the certification of Serbian List. Two members of the ruling Self-Determination party voted against, while the others abstained.
Political analyst Albert Krasniqi of the Demokraci+ NGO told RFE/RL that the decision is part of the preelection campaign being conducted by Kurti’s Self-Determination party.
He said Serbian List will appeal the decision to the Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel (ECAP) and predicted that it will reverse the decision.
“All this noise will last at most four days, and I am sure that the ECAP will reverse this decision of the CEC and will oblige the CEC to certify Serbian List,” Krasniqi said.
Eugen Cakolli of the Democratic Institute of Kosovo told RFE/RL that the CEC has once again become “part of [the] political rhetoric, making a decision in violation of the law and other regulations in force.”
He also said Serbian List will appeal and the ECAP will overturn the decision.
Kosovo proclaimed independence from Serbia in 2008. Belgrade still considers Kosovo a province of Serbia and has a major influence on the ethnic Serbian minority living there.