Serbian parties in Kosovo oppose serbian participation in population registration

All Serbian parties in Kosovo are opposed to Serbian participation in the population registration, which begins today, as they believe it is not the right time to participate in the process while members of the Serbian people are subjected to institutional violence, human rights violations, and the usurpation of all powers.

In separate statements, the Serb List, the Party of Kosovo Serbs, the Serbian Democracy, and the Serbian People's Movement called for the postponement of the population registration.

The Serb List stated in a press release that, considering the years-long repression by Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti against Serbs in Kosovo, the Serbian people will not participate in the population registration.

"Given the years-long repression by the Albin Kurti regime against our people in Kosovo and Metohija, with the aim of ethnically cleansing everything Serbian from these areas, we want to make it clear to Albin Kurti and those who support him that the Serbian people will not participate in the upcoming false population registration organized by him to confirm his shameful success in expelling Serbs," said the Serb List.

They added that participation in the population registration would be the greatest humiliation for Serbs.

"Participation in the processes organized by Kurti would be the greatest humiliation for our people at a time when the same Kurti deprived Serbs of the right to pensions, salaries, obstructed the normal functioning of healthcare, social benefits, abolished the right to vote, arrested and persecuted Serbs, forcibly occupied municipalities, militarized northern Kosovo and Metohija, banned vaccination and the importation of medicines, prevented the importation of food and supplies from central Serbia, abolished all agreements reached and rights guaranteed to the Serbian people, banned Serbian press, abolished accountability for shooting Serbs and Serbian children, forcibly imposed his false mayors in Serbian municipalities, practically abolished the Serbian language in public places and traffic signs," they added from the Serb List.

In addition, they stressed that Kurti seeks to further attack Serbia with demands for war reparations through this population registration, which further deters any Serbian from being part of this process.

"Invoking some legal obligation and messages that are classic intimidation is extremely hypocritical from a regime that has not repealed all legal acts persecuting Serbs and will not bear fruit," they emphasized.

The Serb List reminded that Serbs in Kosovo have been waiting for over 4,000 days for the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities, which is an obligation under the Brussels agreements and the decision of its assembly in Pristina.

"Under which law are dozens of Serbs in prisons without the right to fair trial or at least defense from freedom? Invoking the right of those for whom the law lies in their boots is an insult to every honest and honorable person, who would wonder which law allows someone who did not shoot and try to kill Serbian boys in Gotovusa on Christmas Eve to walk freely without any punishment for their crime," they asked from the Serb List.

They called on the international community to stop supporting the persecution of the Serbian people through their silence and to stop hiding behind "understanding" and modest, anemic statements.

"In these circumstances of daily repression against our people and without the return of 250,000 displaced persons, the population registration would be a clear legalization of ethnic cleansing that has been carried out against our people since 1999. Perhaps Kurti and you do not mind that, and maybe you have the power at your disposal, but the Serbian people will not accept to be complicit in this dirty work," they concluded from the Serb List.

The Party of Kosovo Serbs, led by Aleksandar Jablanovic, also stated that the population registration is unacceptable and comes at the most politically and security challenging and unfavorable time for Serbs in Kosovo, which is why they call on compatriots to boycott the process.

They remind that a large number of Serbs have been forced, with their families, to temporarily leave their homes due to, as they claim, fabricated indictments, threats, and terror by the Government of Kosovo and actions of the Kosovo Police Special Unit, while the decision on "special anti-terrorist operations" is still in force in the north.

They are convinced that, with complete misinformation of citizens about the population registration, Kosovo institutions are not capable of conducting the process properly.

"Because of these and many other negative processes caused by unilateral actions of the Kosovo Government, we have no choice but to call on our fellow Serbs to boycott the registration, not provide any data to registration teams, completely avoid and ignore all actions related to the population registration," they stated.

They also believe that this is not a population registration, but rather Albin Kurti's desire to assess the success of his repressive policy towards Serbs and see in numbers how many Serbs he has managed to expel since 2021.

In the Serbian Democracy party, led by Aleksandar Arsenijevic, they state that they cannot and do not want to deny citizens their civic duty, but they emphasize that they will not support the registration and propose that the process be postponed "for better and more normal times."

They emphasize that it is not the time for the people from the Serbian community to be enumerated when there is a problem with the decision of the Central Bank of Kosovo, namely the abolition of payments in dinars, and considering that at this moment the majority of enumerators in predominantly Serbian areas are not Serbs.

"It is not the time for a registration when we have a serious exodus of our people from Kosovo, due to the institutional violence that we, as Serbs, have been enduring for over two years. It is not the time to participate in the registration when the trust in Kosovo institutions by our people is nonexistent," they note in this party.

They particularly emphasize that it is not the time to participate in the registration because they are convinced that the attempt by the authorities in Pristina to reduce Serbs to the level of statistical errors through malpractices before the formation of the Community of Serbian Municipalities would then be used as an argument for not establishing the CSM.

"It is not the time to be enumerated when, as a people, they are already taking away all our powers and violating all mechanisms of protection," they are clear in this party.

They agree with the Serbian People's Movement, led by Milija Bisevac, considering it "absolutely unacceptable to enter such a process at this time."

"Due to unilateral decisions, deployment of special units in northern Kosovo, banning the dinar, and endangering existence without a real hope for a better tomorrow, we believe that this momentum is absolutely unacceptable to conduct the registration in areas where our people live," they convey from this movement.

They also note that daily harassment, provocations, and persecution through fabricated legal processes and unfounded charges have led to an increasing number of citizens of Serbian nationality leaving Kosovo every day.

"By conditioning that all those who boycott the registration will be punished, it is clearly emphasized that the authorities in Pristina want to continue with repression and violent actions, which is a clear indication that they want the majority of our citizens who have been forced to leave their homes and have not been able to obtain personal documents not to be counted, thereby losing any right to return and protection of usurped property," the statement reads.

Therefore, the Serbian People's Movement demands that the decision on the registration be suspended and the registration process itself postponed:

"Until a compromise is reached through dialogue in Brussels regarding the formation of the Community of Serb-majority Municipalities, the return of our fellow citizens, and until the functionality of institutions is restored and the violation of basic human rights of the Serbian people is stopped."