Graovac: Kurti exerts additional pressure on Serbs through Albanian mayors in the north

Srdjan Graovac from the Center for Social Stability says that Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti will prolong the process of removing Albanian mayors in the four northern municipalities for as long as possible and delay organizing new elections. He assesses that Kurti does not want a swift resolution to the issue, as he uses "Albanian illegal and illegitimate mayors to exert additional pressure on Serbs."

"The pressure isn't just about police with long guns who are constantly present in northern Kosovo and the arrests of Serbs, which are Kurti's strongest tactics against them, not only in the north. What he heavily relies on is the institutional pressure on Serbs through those mayors. Serbs under these circumstances cannot influence internal dynamics or the functioning of their community. Thus, in Kurti's strategy of constant pressure on Serbs, he won't relent and won't want these mayors removed and new elections organized. He will likely prolong the process until next year, when regular local elections are due, which is the maximum delay possible," Graovac explains to Kosovo Online.

He says he wouldn't be surprised if the Constitutional Court were called upon to deliberate on the petition to remove the mayors.

"Don't expect Kurti to relent because he understands that all this pressure and terror he enforces on Serbs strengthens his position in the internal political scene. Albanians support him because Albanian society is radicalized, and Kurti has radicalized it further. Don't forget that Kurti persistently blamed Serbs for all the misfortunes in Kosovo. Poor economic life – blamed on Serbs who ruined everything, poor security in Kosovo – also blamed on Serbs who terrorized Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija. Whatever happens in Kosovo – it's the Serbs' fault. Automatically, you have a radical public sentiment toward Serbs. He politically exists through this terror against Serbs," Graovac says.

Furthermore, Kurti won't yield regarding the deployment of armed forces in northern Kosovo because he sees it resonates with the radicalized Albanian public.

"In the end, all of this fits into the concept of the idea that Serbs shouldn't live in Kosovo, that they are a disruptive factor concerning the idea of 'Greater Albania,' and that there should be a reckoning with Serbs," Graovac notes.

According to him, Albanian mayors in the north are nothing but Kurti's political pawns, executing solely his goals, tasks, and ideas.

"They strive to remove any mention of the Serbian state and anything Serbian in northern Kosovo; that's the essence. Additionally, there's an attempt to break up the Serbian community in Kosovo and Metohija, to divide and sow discord, and to maintain the institutional vacuum where Serbs don't participate. It is an attempt to break up the Serbian community and for Albanians to try to impose new Serbian leaders loyal to Kurti rather than the Serbian community," Graovac concludes.