The US is reacting after the Serb party was prevented from registering in Kosovo's elections. “Such actions undermine stability”

The US embassy in Pristina accused the ruling political party of undermining the stability of Kosovo on Wednesday, due to an attempt to block the participation of the main Serbian political formation in the upcoming elections, reports AFP.

Members of the Vetevendosje (VV) party, led by interim Prime Minister Albin Kurti, prevented Srpska Lista (Serbian List) from being certified to the electoral authority by voting against the formation's registration for the December 28 election.

VV had tried similar approaches in the last two rounds of elections, but both initiatives were annulled on appeal.

“Undermining Kosovo's stability and US interests”

Washington reacted on Wednesday through the embassy in Pristina, which said the decision to prevent Srpska Lista from entering the election was “reckless and divisive”.

“Such actions undermine Kosovo's stability and US interests,” the embassy said in a statement posted on Facebook.

The US has previously expressed concern over the way Kosovo authorities treat the ethnic Serb minority in the territory's north, and this year suspended high-level meetings over actions by Kurti's government, which Washington says have increased “tensions”.

The European Union, in turn, sanctioned Kosovo in 2023 after Kurti's move to cut off services provided by Belgrade to Serbs in northern Kosovo.

Internet relations in Kosovo have remained strained since its war of independence and subsequent official separation from Serbia in 2008, which Belgrade does not recognize.

Kosovo will hold early elections on December 28, as the parliament is paralyzed after the inconclusive result of the February poll.

Representatives of the VV party defended the decision to stop the electoral registration of Srpska Lista, citing the close relations between this political formation and Belgrade.