The appointment of Srećko Spasić as head of the Serbian parallel municipality of Viti is being seen as another attempt by Serbia to build a parallel reality within the territory of Kosovo. According to the director of the “Octopus” Institute, Arben Fetoshi, this move carries symbolic and political weight, as it aims to give Serbian citizens the impression that Serbia continues to be the dominant structure in Kosovo. He considers this one of many cases where Belgrade, through the Serbian List and other parallel structures operating outside the law, seeks to undermine the stability and functioning of Kosovo’s legitimate institutions.

This Monday, the Government of Serbia appointed Srećko Spasić as the head of the Serbian parallel municipality of Viti in Kosovo, just days after he withdrew from the mayoral runoff race in Klokot on November 9 in Kosovo’s local elections, to support the Serbian List candidate.

Arben Fetoshi told KosovaPress that such an act represents yet another interference by Serbia in Kosovo’s internal affairs, which, according to him, continues at all costs to lay the groundwork for destabilizing the country.

“It is absolutely illegal, because it is interference. If the Republic of Serbia appoints a citizen of Kosovo to lead a parallel municipality that has, de facto, been closed by Kosovo’s authorities, that is an intervention aimed at creating a parallel reality and has primarily a symbolic effect — to convince Serbian citizens that Serbia remains the dominant structure within Kosovo. This must always be understood in the context of Serbia’s refusal to recognize Kosovo and the fact that, through its Constitution, it continues to maintain territorial aggression toward Kosovo,” Fetoshi emphasized.

Spasić, from the “Serbian National Unity” Civic Initiative, on November 3 called on his supporters to vote for the person who had sent him to the runoff in the first round — Božidar Dejanović from the Serbian List.

Kosovo’s Central Election Commission explained that the elections in Klokot had to be held formally, because the final deadline for candidates to withdraw from the race was September 2, 2025.

In the first round, Spasić received 674 votes, while the other candidate, Božidar Dejanović from the Serbian List, received 893 votes. In the second round, Dejanović had 948 votes and Spasić 105.

“I will invest all my strength and energy, together with the current members of the ‘Serbian National Unity,’ now members of the Serbian List, in the victory of the Serbian List, under the number 170, in these local elections as well as in all future elections in this region,” Spasić said on November 3, when he publicly announced his withdrawal.

According to Fetoshi, Spasić’s move shows that Serbia is attempting to destabilize Kosovo through the Serbian List, which is officially part of local institutions, and through parallel structures that function illegally in Kosovo.

“Another intervention against Kosovo by Serbia, which is trying at all costs to build the foundations for the country’s destabilization and to use dual mechanisms to undermine the constitutional order and the legitimacy of Kosovo’s institutions — through the Serbian List, which is officially part of local institutions, and through so-called parallel structures that operate illegally in the Republic of Kosovo. I believe we are dealing with a strategy aimed at building the foundations of destabilizing objectives in Kosovo by Serbia, within the context of its territorial ambitions,” Fetoshi said.

According to him, it is Belgrade itself that is persistently trying to block the integration of the Serbian community in Kosovo, doing so by instrumentalizing it against the constitutional order and the stability of the country.

In response to Serbia’s destabilizing approach toward Kosovo, Fetoshi said that the international community should react.

“It is part of the ongoing pressure on the Serbian community, which Belgrade continues to instrumentalize against the constitutional order and for the destabilization of Kosovo. It has also been a tactical maneuver showing that Belgrade, through its structures, tries at all costs to prevent the integration of the Serbian community. This is Kosovo’s main challenge, even within the dialogue process, and I believe that increasingly clear signs are emerging that the international community — the EU and the U.S. — should increase pressure on Belgrade to ensure that such acts of interference in Kosovo are no longer tolerated,” he underlined.

Spasić was appointed head of the Provisional Municipal Body of the Municipality of Viti, despite the fact that this parallel structure had been shut down by Kosovo’s authorities earlier this year.