Serb hardliners making a comeback in northern Kosovo amid growing frustration with leadership

Serb nationalists are making a comeback in northern Kosovo amid growing dissatisfaction with leaders in Pristina and Belgrade, potentially scuppering diplomatic talks and increasing security risks in the western Balkans.

Tensions flared up after a disputed election in April when ethnic Albanians won mayoral posts in the majority-Serb part of Kosovo. The violence has abated, but resentment has continued to build – and a deal to normalise relations between the feuding neighbours is proving elusive.

“Nobody [supports us]. We are on our own,” said Maria, a university professor and mother of two in Leposavic, one of the towns where violent clashes took place in May. “But we can fight... we are that kind of people, we are not going anywhere,” she said.

Maria declined to discuss her political beliefs for fear of retribution. But she and other locals have expressed frustration at Kosovo’s existing political structure. Her insistence, however, that “this is Serbia” – a statement she and others in northern Kosovo are proud to make – reflects a growing influence of more radical figures who have emerged in the region.

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Among them is Marko K Jaksic, whose right-wing Fatherland movement was active in the aftermath of the 1999 war when Kosovo broke away from Serbia.

Jaksic, who has advocated for a municipal alliance of Serbs to bolster their standing against the central Kosovo Government, said he rejected a rerun of the election – a solution touted by western mediators.

“We consider that they are local separatist elections... contrary to the valid constitution of the Republic of Serbia,” said Jaksic.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, which Serbs on both sides of the border have not recognised.

When Pristina moved to remove Serbia-issued licence plates and IDs in the four majority-Serb districts last year, locals barricaded roads and staged a mass walkout from their public administration posts.

After violent clashes in May, when Nato peacekeepers and protesters were injured as locals tried to prevent ethnic Albanians from taking office, the military alliance sent reinforcements and police fortified the municipal buildings.

[ Kosovo designates two Serb groups as terrorist organisations ]

Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo premier Albin Kurti have continued their dialogue on normalising relations between the two countries without reaching a breakthrough.

But Serbs in Kosovo increasingly see Vucic – and the main Belgrade-backed political party Serbian List – as unable to protect their interests.

Serbian List was created a decade ago as part of a previous stabilisation agreement, which guaranteed that Serbs get a certain level of autonomy and in return participate in Kosovo institutions. Support for Serbian List had already dropped to 8 per cent last year, down from 10 per cent in 2021.

“Vucic only has influence over Serbian List but they have no authority, no charismatic figure to lead the community in a critical moment where frustration is so high,” said Milica Andric Rakic, an activist with New Social Initiative, a civil society group in Mitrovica, northern Kosovo’s largest city.

“The community asks for the withdrawal of the Kosovo special police and there is nothing [Serbian List] can do. There is no meaningful response. Their political career is done here,” Rakic said.

Serbian List leader Igor Simic said his focus was on resolving acute problems.

“We are not thinking about elections,” he said. “We cannot [ignore] special units setting up military bases in municipal buildings, Albanian squads in surrounding areas. Our people are present on the ground, and I am here with citizens peacefully protesting.”

There is no polling to measure the support for alternatives to Serbian List. But more challengers have emerged, particularly on the nationalist side.

A younger politician, also called Marko Jaksic – no relation to the older Jaksic – said that if Serbian List decide to participate in an election, “they will now have opposition”. He is in the process of forming a party called the North, which espouses more nationalist views than Serbian List.

“I am shocked by the silence and lukewarm reaction of Serbia,” he said. “Kurti’s forces will arrest us, picking us out like rabbits if we [stop the resistance].”

Maria said the situation in Leposavic had worsened dramatically in the past few weeks.

“I’m here protesting every day,” the professor said while sitting in a cafe overlooking a municipal building surrounded by barbed wire and protected by Nato troops.

“For 23 years we were in some kind of status quo – one step forward, one step back. Now it’s like 200 steps back.”

[ Kosovo PM presents plan to defuse tensions in Serb-majority area following unrest ]

As relations with Belgrade disintegrated, Kosovo banned Serbian vehicles and goods from entering the country last month. Pharmacies and shops have emptied while smuggling intensified over the border from Serbia.

Kosovo authorities arrested several people they said were organisers of protest violence and even charged some with preparing for terror attacks. Serbia also arrested three Kosovo policemen it said crossed into Serb territory fully armed, and released them after huge international pressure.

Even a basketball team has been caught up in the political crossfire, as it was banned from tournaments until Serb schools reintegrate into the Kosovo school system. They set up hoops and hosted games at protests outside municipality buildings, guarded by Nato troops.

Bill Clinton, who was US president when a Nato bombing campaign of Belgrade put an end to the war, said hardline Serbs were paralysing progress in the region.

“It’s bad for the short-term democracy and the day-to-day life of real people there,” said Clinton. “And it’s keeping countries not only in an impasse but inviting everyone to get more and more frustrated and do self-destructive things.”

Some ethnic Serbs are making plans to leave or have already left to stay with relatives north of the border.

“Nobody sees a future here,” says Maria. “Parents say they will leave if integration occurs because they don’t want their children educated in Kosovo schools.”

– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2023