Kosovo election authority bans main ethnic Serb party from parliamentary vote

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s election authority on Monday barred the main ethnic Serb party from competing in the upcoming parliamentary election, justifying the move by pointing to its nationalist stance and close ties to Serbia.

The Central Election Commission declined to certify Kosovo’s main ethnic Serb party, Srpska Lista, or Serb List.

Some commission’s members mentioned how Srpska Lisa leader Zlatan Elek has never referred to Kosovo as an independent republic, but instead as “Kosovo i Metohija,” meaning Serbia’s autonomous province of Kosovo, as Belgrade calls it.

The commission officials also said that the Serb party holds close ties with Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić and other Serb leaders who also refuse to recognize Kosovo’s independence.

https://apnews.com/article/kosovo-serbs-election-srpska-lista-party-banned-e6528d0f7ee22b27513f9930ab18bc99