Stevic: Kurti has already begun a campaign calling on Albanians in the diaspora to vote

Journalist from North Mitrovica Lazar Stevic told Kosovo Online that it will be a major problem for the Self-Determination Movement that the snap parliamentary elections, scheduled for June 7, are not being held during the holiday season, when a large number of Albanians would be able to travel to Kosovo. For that reason, he says, Albin Kurti has already launched a campaign urging Albanians in the diaspora to register and vote at diplomatic missions.

Stevic does not believe that Albin Kurti can repeat the result from December, when he won 51 percent of the vote, nor that diaspora turnout in the upcoming elections will be as high as it was in December last year.

He also points out that Kurti has little to offer his voters, as the economic situation in Kosovo is unfavorable due to rising fuel and food prices.

“His hands are tied in that regard. However, what we Serbs can expect, and what Albin Kurti will focus on, is constant pressure on us, primarily in the north. He has shut down everything that could be shut down, with only the education and healthcare systems remaining. We know that the international community has drawn a red line there; however, now that he has been backed into a corner, we can expect him to once again target education and healthcare in order to make up for the votes he needs and will lose because many people from abroad will not come to Kosovo and Metohija, as well as because Vjosa Osmani has aligned herself with another party,” Stevic assessed.

In his opinion, although one of the main criticisms directed at Albin Kurti as prime minister is that he did not devote sufficient attention to the Specialist Chambers and the proceedings against former KLA leaders, including Hashim Thaçi and others, that issue will not influence voters because the Specialist Chambers decided to postpone the deadline for delivering the verdict until July 20.

“Had the decision been delivered before the elections scheduled for July 7, it would certainly have had a significant impact on the election results. However, for some reason, the Specialist Chambers decided to extend the deadline, as they themselves stated, due to the specific nature of the case. That verdict is certainly being awaited with great anticipation. We expect them to be convicted for the crimes they committed against Serbs in 1999 in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija,” Stevic stated.