In the north of the partially recognized Republic of Kosovo, clashes between law enforcement agencies and ethnic Serbs began. This happened after the authorities of the republic sent the police to the municipalities of Zvecan, Leposavich and Zubin Potok, where the predominantly Serb population lives, to “help” the newly elected heads of these territorial units in taking their places in administrative buildings.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, in response, brought the country's army to a state of "highest readiness" and announced the transfer of troops to the border with Kosovo.
Elections in the northern municipalities of the partially recognized republic took place on April 23 after mayors from the Serbian List, the largest party of Kosovo Serbs, announced their withdrawal and boycott of the electoral process. As a result, the voter turnout was 3.47%.
At the same time, on the same day, May 26, a pro-government rally "Hope of Serbia" was held in Belgrade, which gathered Vučić's supporters. In recent weeks, after the mass execution of students in one of the Belgrade schools, the Serbs held several thousands of rallies under the slogan "Against violence" with the blocking of the main highways of the capital. Their demands consisted in the resignation of the government of the current President of Serbia and the appointment of new elections. With the help of a rally of his supporters, Vučić is trying to interrupt this agenda.
Speaking to The Insider, Aleksander Djokic, a political scientist and expert on the Balkans, said that Kosovo saw this situation as a good opportunity to establish elected power in the northern municipalities, while Vučić “is applauded and talked about what kind of leader he is and how he protects them.”
At the same time, he recalls that in recent years, Vučić has several times brought the army into a state of high alert and “showed a couple of armored personnel carriers that are moving towards Kosovo.”
“A person who is not familiar with the situation might think that a war will start tomorrow,” says Djokic. However, Serbia “cannot in any way” send an army into Kosovo, since in 1999 agreements were signed, according to which this requires the permission of foreign missions monitoring security.
If Vucic does it arbitrarily, then at best it will end with the introduction of total sanctions against the country, which will lead to a sharp degradation of its economy. In the worst case, Serbia will face new bombings and a "repeat of 1999," Djokic said.
At the same time, the political scientist notes that after the anti-government rallies in Belgrade, a gradual exodus of “some personnel” began from the “Serbian Progressive Party”. On the other hand, the liberal parties do not have many MPs in parliament, since the majority of Serbs vote for the nationalists and national populists, to which Vučić's party belongs.
So Djokic sums it up:
“There is no such thing as the Vučić regime being overthrown tomorrow. There must be some kind of escalation of the protests to keep them massive, because such enthusiasm is hard to maintain for a long time.”
