Balje: Stop playing with nerves about elections, it harms everyone in Kosovo

As things stand now, voting for the extraordinary parliamentary elections scheduled in Serbia for December 17 will not be possible in Kosovo, and in this regard, Duda Balje, a member of the Kosovo Assembly from the Bosniak community ranks and the president of the Human Rights Committee, emphasizes that politicians on all sides should stop playing with nerves and consider the impact of decisions on people living in Kosovo.

Belgrade, through the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, has requested the OSCE mission to engage in organizing and holding the extraordinary parliamentary elections in Kosovo as well. Following this, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti sent a letter to the head of this mission, Michael Davenport, requesting a special "interstate agreement" between Kosovo and Serbia in order to enable the Serbian community in Kosovo to vote in the December elections.

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, informed the Republic Electoral Commission that, due to Pristina's unacceptable conditions, it is not possible to conduct voting on the territory of Kosovo and Metohija in the elections for members of parliament.

Regarding the conduct of elections, Balje says that this playing with nerves needs to stop.

"I think that all of this does not break on those who make such decisions but breaks on the people who live here, whether Serbian, Albanian, our minority, and other minorities. I think we have gone too far, and we need to move the level of decisions to the people who live here every day. We have exaggerated to the extent that the people no longer take us seriously," Balje, the president of the Social Democratic Union party, said.

It has become a practice, Balje claims, for Pristina to oppose decisions made by Belgrade and vice versa, with no attention paid to the citizens.

"I think we don't pay attention to the focus group, which is the people who live here every day in all environments, because Kosovo is multi-ethnic wherever you turn. Should there be elections - yes, should conditions be created for that - yes, should the people have the most say in that - yes. Let's turn our focus to another side for a bit," Balje emphasizes.

She adds that she does not agree with radical decisions and moves because it has been seen, as she says, that they lead nowhere.

"We also need to learn from mistakes, see where we went wrong, and not repeat it. It is human to make mistakes, but it is not human to constantly repeat the same thing. I think politics corrupts a lot and does not leave us room to communicate normally. I think hate speech is at a high level, and I think someone benefits from all that, and it will happen as long as it suits someone. But again, I believe in good will, I believe in goodness in all people, and I believe people will see this through because Kosovo has always been and will always be, and we will all live together again, and I want to believe in that and will always fight for it," Balje said.