Kosovo Serb MPs to Consult Belgrade Before Quitting

Members of Srpska List, the Serbian party in the Kosovo government, are to consult with Serbian government officials later this week and discuss whether to continue to participate in Kosovo government institutions.

The politicians, who make no secret of their close links to Belgrade, will make their minds up only after consultations with the Serbian Prime Minister, Aleksandar Vucic.

Serbian MPs in Kosovo started mulling whether to quit the coalition government led by Isa Mustafa - and their seats in parliament, after Mustafa on February 3 axed the ethnic Serbian Minister for Returns and Communities, Aleksandar Jablanovic.

Jablanovic was fired after making a controversial statement at Orthodox Christmas, when he called Albanians who blocked a bus full of Serbian pilgrims "savages".

Srpska List still has two ministers in the government as well as nine seats in parliament.

The participation of the Serbian MPs is considered crucial for the implementation of the 2013 Brussels agreement on the "normalisation" of relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

This foresees Serbia abandoning its system of parallel government bodies in the north of Kosovo and the creation a semi-autonomous Association of Serbian Municipalities.

Political analyst Belul Beqaj said the party's withdrawal from government would have serious consequences for both Kosovo and Serbia.

"It would slow down the process of signing the Stabilization and Association Agreement for Kosovo and also slow down Serbia's EU membership negotiations," Beqaj said.

The continuation of the EU-facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, which started more than two years ago, is considered crucial for the EU membership aspirations of both countries.

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