Surlic: No radical moves by the authorities in Pristina before elections, but with announcements of further reducing Serbia's presence

Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, Stefan Surlic, does not expect overly radical moves by the Kosovo authorities in the north before the parliamentary elections scheduled for February 9. However, he believes that their election campaign will focus on how the north has been fully integrated and how Serbian institutions have been dismantled.

It is possible, he says, that the implementation of the decision to open the main bridge over the Ibar River will be postponed until after the elections.

"But there will certainly be continued announcements that even the small remaining elements of Serbia's and Belgrade's presence, in terms of administration and some communal structures, will be eliminated. As for healthcare and education, international actors are currently saying that these are red lines and that livelihoods depend on them. I don't think Pristina will act against these institutions in the near future, although, unfortunately, we are hearing louder voices from police representatives and some government officials in Pristina that the healthcare and education systems are a major issue for Kosovo's structures," Surlic told Kosovo Online.