7 April 2025 The Head of the Serbian delegation to the PACE Biljana Pantic Pilja

7 April 2025 The Head of the Serbian delegation to the PACE Biljana Pantic Pilja

Wednesday, 9 April 2025

Elections in Kosovo-Metohija Discussed at the PACE Session

At the spring session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, on 7 April 2025, in Strasbourg, a joint debate was held on the Report of the ad hoc Bureau Committee on the Kosovo-Metohija Election Observation.


The report was presented by MP Petra Bayr, and members of the Serbian delegation strongly opposed the Report's conclusions, pointing to severe electoral manipulation and systemic violations of the rights of the Serbian people in the province.

The Head of the Serbian delegation to the PACE, Biljana Pantic Pilja, expressed her disagreement with the report and pointed to serious manipulations during the elections in the southern Serbian province. As she stated, the final results were awaited for more than 30 days, which indicates irregularities and, as she said, is not surprising "because Kosovo-Metohija is not a state". She pointed out that the Serbian List won support for all 10 guaranteed seats, but one was awarded to Nenad Rasic's party, which received votes exclusively in Albanian areas. According to her, this is an election engineering directed by Albin Kurti and a gross violation of the electoral will of the Serbs. Pantic Pilja recalled that the EU also pointed to serious irregularities in its preliminary report, a ban on postal voting for displaced Serbs, as well as institutional pressure. She assessed that the Serbian people in Kosovo-Metohija suffer daily oppression, and that there is a mass exodus, with the danger of creating an ethnically pure region. She particularly pointed out the fact that the Community of Serb Municipalities, as an international obligation of the Pristina authorities, has not been formed even after more than 4,000 days since the signing of the Brussels Agreement, which further undermines the rights of the Serbian population. Finally, she said that the so-called "Kosovo" does not meet basic democratic standards and that, under such circumstances, it has no place in the Council of Europe.

Dunja Simonovic Bratic stressed that, despite the delay in distributing the report, it represents the official confirmation of the PACE that human rights are being continuously violated in Kosovo-Metohija, especially the rights of the Serbian community. She pointed to dramatic irregularities in the voter lists, including duplicate and outdated data, and the ban on voting for internally displaced persons, despite the recommendations of the Venice Commission. She condemned the persecution of Serbian representatives, threats to abolish the Serbian List, and the recent arrests of Serbs who attended the liturgy. She underlined that terror against Serbs has intensified, and that the so-called "Kosovo" has no place in the Council of Europe.

Aleksandar Mirkovic pointed to institutional manipulations during the elections in Kosovo-Metohija, stating that Serbs were systematically prevented from following the electoral process in their communities, by reducing the number of their representatives in electoral bodies below the legal minimum. He particularly emphasized that Nenad Rasic's party received votes in Albanian communities, even in prison, which, he said, was a direct consequence of the pressures and organization of the Albin Kurti regime.

Elvira Kovacs stressed that the rights of national minorities are still under threat, and that the institutions in Pristina do not show the will to resolve key issues. She particularly pointed out the lack of any progress in the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities, which represents an international obligation and the most concrete mechanism for the protection of the Serbian community. She assessed that the electoral manipulations on 9 February and the one-month delay in the results are part of the systemic pressure on Serbs. She called for de-escalation and compromise in cooperation with Belgrade.

Vladimir Djordjevic decried the elections held in Kosovo-Metohija as fraudulent and undemocratic. He pointed out that the elections are taking place in a territory based on terror and the erasure of Serbian identity. He particularly warned of the wider consequences of the "Kosovo" precedent, stating that it was precisely such an example of violating Serbia's sovereignty that served as a template for Russia to justify its aggression against Ukraine. He said that international law must not be subject to double standards.

Jelena Milosevic stressed that there are no conditions for democratic elections in Kosovo-Metohija, as a silent ethnic cleansing is being carried out against the Serbian population. She pointed to the militarization of the north, the ban on Serbian medicines, textbooks and Cyrillic inscriptions, as well as the failure to form a Community of Serb Municipalities. She said that a solution must come through dialogue.


Previous month Next month
M T W T F S S
31 1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 1 2 3 4
monday, 28 april
  • 15.00 - sitting of the Culture and Information Committee (National Assembly House, 13 Nikola Pasic Square, hall 3)

Full event calendar