Serbia’s opposition joins forces against autocrat Vučic. But so far nothing has fundamentally changed on the Kosovo issue.
Belgrade – Serbia’s politically deeply divided opposition wants to join forces against the autocratic ruling President Aleksandar Vučic in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The “Serbia Against Violence” alliance ranges from left-green parties to a monarchist splinter party with one seat in parliament. After the shock, the alliance was over two deadly shootings at Serbian schools and the subsequent protests since May of this yearreported the portal Politico on Friday (December 8). The protest movement blamed the government and the pro-government tabloid television channels TV Pink and HappyTV for the violent climate in Serbia.
Opposition alliance with chances in Serbia election
The election will take place on Sunday (December 17th). According to a current survey by the independent Serbian institute CRTA, which Politico cites, the alliance currently has 40 percent of the vote. The coalition that supports Vučic’s government in parliament received 49 percent of the vote. However, it is unclear to what extent a possible election victory for the opposition could ease tensions between Serbia and Kosovo. The 15-party alliance is divided on the issue.
Opposition: Vučic complicit in the attack in Banjska
The alliance’s top candidate, Miroslav Aleksic, told the Serbian television station N1, to “start from scratch” the normalization process with the Kosovo government in Pristina. He belongs to the conservative People’s Party of Serbia, which has 5 seats in the Serbian Parliament. But the alliance’s currently strongest force in parliament is the Democratic Party (DP), a center-left party in Serbia’s political landscape.
After the attack by a Serbian militia on an Orthodox monastery and the Kosovo police in northern Kosovo, DP candidate Srdjan Milivojevic called for Vučic’s resignation and blamed him for the outbreak of violence at the end of September. The alliance’s parliamentary parties have been calling for a committee of inquiry since the beginning of October. All parties in the alliance accuse Vučic of at least some complicity. The ringleader of the militia Milan Radoicic, former deputy head of the Party of the Serbian People in North Kosovo loyal to Belgrade, was repeatedly praised by Vučic as the “protector of the Serbs” and is currently in Serbia. He is at large. Four people died in the attack, three attackers and a Kosovar police officer.
No force is fully behind the EU plan for Kosovo – focus on domestic policy
At the same time, Aleksic and Milivojevic questioned the Ohrid normalization agreement, in which the EU tried to improve the relationship along the lines of the agreement between FRG and GDR. Milivojevic criticized President Vučic for “never admitting that he had already recognized Kosovo.” An allusion to the fact that Serbia and Kosovo are treated equally as states in the agreement. Milivojevic accused Vučic and Kosovo President Albin Kurti of “terror” against the Serb minority in northern Kosovo. The Green-Left Front, which is mainly based in the capital Belgrade, called for “steps to implement the Ohrid Agreement” after the escalation in Banjska. In the long term, however, she wants to negotiate “new agreements”.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 and was supported by many Western states. Serbia considers the country an independent province. There are repeated attempts at destabilization from Belgrade. The NATO-led KFOR troops stabilize the country.
The parties in the “Serbia against Violence” coalition therefore focus on domestic political issues. Dobrica Veselinović from the Green-Left Front agreed that he was “sure that the citizens have had enough of the corruption, violence and crime of the ruling party.” Politico. They face Vučic in a Serbian media system in which TVPink, HappyTV and the tabloids give him all the attention and mark political opponents and journalists as enemies in various ways. Reporters Without Borders described the Serbian media landscape as “polluted by propaganda.” (kb)
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