Vujinovic: The OSCE and the EU Delegation should provide answers about the change in the number of voters in Kosovo

Security studies researcher Nikola Vujinovic believes that the reduction in the number of voters in Gracanica ahead of the parliamentary elections on December 28, after it had been increased before the local elections held on October 12, raises well-founded suspicions that electoral engineering is taking place, and that the OSCE and the EU Delegation must determine whether this is indeed the case.

"Gracanica is a predominantly Serb community, and the fact that just before the local elections the number of voters increased, who certainly were not Serb voters but Albanian as well, shows what the attempt was. Unfortunately or fortunately, it was not successful, as we could see the absolute victory of the Serb List in Gracanica. The fact that 740 voters suddenly disappeared from this municipality between October and December tells us that someone pulled their people out and sent them to another place they consider more important," Vujinovic told Kosovo Online.

He points out, however, that the electoral roll in Kosovo is generally unrealistic, because it contains more than two million voters, while there are not even 800,000 on the ground.

"At least that is what the parliamentary elections in February and the local elections showed. This leaves a great deal of room for engineering similar to that in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where the Muslim majority elects the representatives of the Croat people in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. And that is quite easy if you have disciplined supporters and activists and if, unfortunately, you have the silence of international observers and the international community," Vujinovic emphasizes.

Many, he says, speak out when it comes to elections in Serbia, insisting on the need for them to be fair and correct and for the media to be free, so those same voices should respond regarding the elections in Kosovo as well.

"Above all, it should be the OSCE, followed by the Delegation of the European Union, since Kosovo wants to join the European Union. All of them must in some way provide an answer as to whether this is engineering or not. Or at least take note of it. What worries me is the fact that they are paying no attention to this issue at all. Recently there were incidents in South Mitrovica, where members of the Democratic Party of Kosovo determined that there had been instances of 'Bulgarian train' voting at some polling stations, and this was met with absolute silence from international observers," our interlocutor says.

Vujinovic also believes that a particular problem regarding the upcoming snap elections is the fact that they are being held on December 28.

"It is unlikely that the European Union will send many observers during the New Year holidays, and it is unlikely that the OSCE will have many either, which all suggests that this is part of a broader attempt, in my opinion by Albin Kurti, to secure his victory with a sufficient number of seats in order to form a government," Vujinovic concludes.