Rashiq after Student List victory: Kosovo-Serbia dialogue must resume

Nenad Rashiq, Kosovo’s minister for communities and return, believes that the Student List’s victory in Serbia could pave the way for the resumption of dialogue between Belgrade and Pristina on normalizing relations. According to him, both sides should focus on integration into the European Union.

“Normalizing relations between Kosovo and Serbia is part of the European agenda. I expect this to be one of the first issues addressed when a new government is formed in Serbia. The dialogue, which has been stalled for some time, should resume,” Rashiq told Radio Free Europe.

The Kosovo-Serbia dialogue process, mediated by the European Union, began in 2011. However, Kosovo’s prime minister, Albin Kurti, has linked the continuation of high-level meetings to Serbia extraditing Milan Radoicic, who has taken responsibility for the armed attack in Banjska.

So far, the Student List has made no statements regarding the events in Banjska or Milan Radoicic.

This political movement, formed out of student protests against corruption across Serbia, maintains that Kosovo is an integral part of Serbia in accordance with its Constitution and that it will act on this basis.

During the pre-election period, several Student List candidates said they would reconsider, among other things, the agreements reached in the dialogue with Kosovo.

Preliminary estimates show that the Student List received 52.65 percent of the vote, while former president Aleksandar Vucic’s United Serbia secured 39.22 percent.

Radio Free Europe asked the Kosovo Government for comment on the Student List’s result in Serbia, but has not received a response so far.

Rashiq says it is unrealistic to expect the movement to publicly oppose Serbia’s Constitution when its position is linked to Kosovo.

“What political representative or member of a broader political movement would say that they will not respect the law and the Constitution? This is called ‘playing it safe’ when you do not have enough information to engage more deeply with an issue. But the answer lies in the fact that the Student List has also expressed support for European integration,” Rashiq emphasized.

Rashiq, who politically represents Kosovo Serbs, also expects Serbia’s new authorities to put an end to the “misuse” of money and other resources coming from that country.

He hopes that Serbia’s new government will not “exert pressure” on members of the Serb community in Kosovo. According to him, such action was previously undertaken by the Serbian Progressive Party through the Serb List, the main party representing Serbs in Kosovo, which was formed with the support of Aleksandar Vucic.

In Kosovo’s most recent elections, the Serb List won nine of the ten seats reserved for the Serb community in the Assembly. The tenth seat went to Nenad Rashiq’s For Freedom, Justice and Survival party.

Following the Student List’s victory in Sunday’s elections, the Serb List has yet to react publicly.