Serb Ministers Threaten to Withdraw from Kosovo Government

A protestor with Albanian national flag walks in front of the Kosovo police officers during a demonstration in Pristina, Kosovo, 27 January 2015. Photo: EPA

Serbian ministers in Kosovo's coalition government threatened to withdraw after the dismissal of Minister of Communities and Returns Aleksandar Jablanovic on Tuesday.

The decision of Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa to dismiss Jablanovic came after a series of violent protests in the country, which demanded his resignation.

Jablanovic, who is a Serb Kosovar, infuriated Kosovo's Albanians, when he called protesters against Serbian pilgrims on the eve of Orthodox Christmas “savages”.

The minister's comments unleashed a series of protests, which accused him of insulting the mothers of victims of the 1998-1999 conflict and demanded his resignation.

The protests did not settle, even after Jablanovic's public apology, as it emerged that the government had taken a controversial decision on the privatisation of the Trepica mine complex.

Kosovo's Deputy Prime Minister Branimir Stojanovic, who together with Jablanovic are member of the Srpska (Serb) List, said on Wednesday that the party is not content with the dismissal.

Stojanovic revealed in an interview for Balkan Insight that the Srpska party is to rethink its participation in the government.

He said that consultations are to be held with other members of the party as well as with Belgrade authorities before a decision is reached on their continued participation in the government.

Apart from Stojanovic, the Srpska List has one more remaining minister in the government and it holds nine seats in the Kosovo Parliament.

Srpska, which was established before the 2013 local elections, is in a coalition with Hashim Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and PM Mustafa's Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).

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