Tomic: Kurti wants to have as many people from abroad as possible on the voter register

Political scientist Ivan Tomic, commenting on the adoption of the draft law on citizenship that will allow the Kosovo diaspora to obtain citizenship through a simplified procedure, said that the reason for addressing this regulation is that conditions have now been created for people who left Kosovo to hold dual citizenship, but also that the initiative comes at a politically convenient moment for Albin Kurti, since registering for citizenship also means being entered into the voter register.

“There is certainly a need to introduce this law now, given that we know that tens of thousands of people who left Kosovo, especially after 2008, had to renounce Kosovo citizenship because they could not obtain documents in the countries where they lived. However, conditions have now been created and those who have obtained documents can now have dual citizenship,” Tomic told Kosovo Online.

However, he added that the initiative stems more from certain political motives, considering that Albin Kurti is in power, in terms of consolidating his voter base.

“We know that Albin Kurti has for years received significant political support from abroad, because people living abroad tend to connect more with certain nationalist topics that appeal to them and for which they vote for a politician in Kosovo, while they are less focused on living standards and other issues. For that reason, Albin Kurti wants to have as many people from abroad as possible on the voter register, and by registering for citizenship you are also entered into the voter register. I believe that this is the ultimate goal of such an initiative, which comes at a politically convenient moment for Albin Kurti, and that is why he is dealing with this issue right now,” Tomic noted.

He believes that the demographic picture in Kosovo will not change as a result of these people obtaining citizenship, since they will continue to live abroad.

“The essence here is simply for them to be included in the voter register. On the other hand, this could affect the Serbian community in the sense that the number of voters on the Albanian side will increase, while our percentages will continue to decline. But essentially, nothing will change because the Serbian community has guaranteed seats both in parliament and in the public sector. It is true that this is still not fully respected, especially when it comes to representation in the public sector, but regarding the basic political rights guaranteed by both the Ahtisaari Plan and the Constitution of Kosovo, nothing will change in that sense,” Tomic assessed.

He added that the demographic situation of every nation is extremely important and that Serbs, he said, should also pay attention to their demographic trends in order to avoid a situation where they make up only one percent of the population in Kosovo.