Feith calls on Serbs to participate in elections

Special EU envoy to Kosovo Pieter Feith has called on the Kosovo Serbs to participate in the local elections scheduled for November 15. He said that otherwise, they would be unable to form governments in the five Serb municipalities, as called for by the decentralization plan. Feith calls on Serbs to participate in elections Feith said that decentralization would give the Serb community new rights and that the elections and decentralization were closely linked. He said that preparations for the decentralization process were going well and that decentralization would give the Serb community new possibilities for organizing their lives. “At the same time, we strongly support the participation of Serbs in the local elections, because that way, they can choose the people that will address the most important issues affecting their lives,” Feith said. He said that he was “surprised” by the fact that Belgrade was responding with “calls against decentralization” and said that this issue should not be politicized. “I think that the rights transferred to the local Serb community will be greater than what we see in regular decentralization in other democratic countries,” Feith said. Asked whether decentralization and the formation of the new Serb municipalities would occur if the Serbs opted out of the local elections on November 15, Feith replied that “if no one participates in the elections, there will be no-one elected to make up the municipal bodies.” “Then it is impossible to implement functional municipalities,” Feith said, adding that he believed that the issue of Serb participation in the Kosovo local elections would be “overcome.” Regarding the minimal return of Serbs and other non-Albanians to Kosovo, Feith stressed that one of his roles as envoy was to facilitate the returns process. Asked about the possibility of partitioning Kosovo, especially in view of the situation in the north, Feith said that partition was not an option for Belgrade, Pristina or Brussels. Pieter Feith (FoNet, archive)

Feith calls on Serbs to participate in elections

Feith said that decentralization would give the Serb community new rights and that the elections and decentralization were closely linked.

He said that preparations for the decentralization process were going well and that decentralization would give the Serb community new possibilities for organizing their lives.

“At the same time, we strongly support the participation of Serbs in the local elections, because that way, they can choose the people that will address the most important issues affecting their lives,” Feith said.

He said that he was “surprised” by the fact that Belgrade was responding with “calls against decentralization” and said that this issue should not be politicized.

“I think that the rights transferred to the local Serb community will be greater than what we see in regular decentralization in other democratic countries,” Feith said.

Asked whether decentralization and the formation of the new Serb municipalities would occur if the Serbs opted out of the local elections on November 15, Feith replied that “if no one participates in the elections, there will be no-one elected to make up the municipal bodies.”

“Then it is impossible to implement functional municipalities,” Feith said, adding that he believed that the issue of Serb participation in the Kosovo local elections would be “overcome.”

Regarding the minimal return of Serbs and other non-Albanians to Kosovo, Feith stressed that one of his roles as envoy was to facilitate the returns process.

Asked about the possibility of partitioning Kosovo, especially in view of the situation in the north, Feith said that partition was not an option for Belgrade, Priština or Brussels.