Serb List: Double standards by the Court in Pristina; the same reasoning should be applied to the Albanian flag

The Serb List has stated that the decision of the Basic Court in Pristina to ban the display of Serbian flags for Vidovdan is politically motivated and linked to the upcoming local elections. It called on the Court to apply the same standards and its own reasoning in cases involving the Albanian flag.

The Serb List also announced that the competent authorities of the Municipality of Gracanica will file an appeal against this decision.

Quoting sections of the court ruling, in which the Court states that “allowing the display of the flag of another country (Serbia), except in cases provided for by law, may be perceived as a symbolic act of dual sovereignty or political self-organization, thus violating the constitutional order,” and that this is “especially important in the context of ethnic and political sensitivities in Kosovo,” as well as that “any such authorization without legal basis could set a dangerous precedent for undermining the legal order and national unity,” and that “the decision of the Municipality of Gracanica seriously endangers public order and interethnic coexistence,” the Serb List demanded the same treatment in regard to the Albanian flag.

“We demand that this same Court respond to the display of the Albanian flag in the plenary hall of the Kosovo Assembly by Albin Kurti, and this in a situation where no Albanian official was present or a guest at the Assembly session,” the statement reads.

The Serb List further demanded that the Basic Court in Pristina act according to the same standards and apply its own reasoning in cases involving the Albanian flag, recalling that their MPs have for years submitted proposals to have Vidovdan legally recognized as a holiday of the Serbian people, proposals which have been consistently blocked in the parliament.

“The decision of the Basic Court in Pristina is nothing more than yet another indicator of the regime’s attitude in Pristina toward the Serbian people, and the timing of this decision is directly connected to the upcoming local elections. It represents an attempt to score cheap political points,” the Serb List concluded.

On June 9, the Basic Court in Pristina ruled that the decision of the Municipality of Gracanica, from June last year, to commemorate and celebrate Vidovdan using Serbian symbols and flags, constituted an “overstepping of powers defined by law.” According to the Court’s interpretation, such a decision “seriously undermines the unitary and constitutional character of Kosovo,” stating that it “seriously endangers public order and interethnic coexistence and could provoke interethnic tensions.”