Kosovo Activists to Continue ‘Rehearsing’ Protests Despite Movement Restrictions

Kosovo citizens staging a rehearsal for potential protests in Pristina. Photo: Courtesy of the Organizers

Supporters of the ruling Vetevendosje party and its leader Albin Kurti have vowed to stage more “rehearsals” for protests despite the continued limits on public gatherings in the COVID-19 outbreak.

They staged the first such “rehearsal for a protest” on Tuesday evening, when some 500 people formed an almost perfect square in the centre of Pristina and kept a distance from each other to comply with the restrictions.

The object of the planned protests is continued moves to form a new government in Kosovo without holding fresh elections, following the toppling the Vetevendosje-led government under Prime Minister Kurti in a no-confidence vote in March.

One of the organisers, a former MP candidate member for Vetevendosje, Valdrin Ahmeti, gave details about the organisation of other “rehearsals for protests” on Facebook, predicting another rehearsal with up to 1,500 people in the coming days.

“Protest is an essential right in a democratic society, and its progress in terms of organisation must sometimes be guaranteed by us citizens,” Ahmeti wrote, explaining that the initiative came in response to “demands and concerns of citizens that protests may be lacking in political developments in the country, due to the restrictions of the pandemic”.

He called for “distance, discipline and care” at such events.

This is not the first time Kosovars have prepared for protests during the COVID-19 pandemic, but it is the first public rehearsal for the protest.

After the overthrow of Kurti’s government on March 25 a rally against the move to form a new government without elections was due to take place in early May but was cancelled.

Kosovo citizens have also protested against political developments from their balconies during the curfew. Many banged kitchen utensils nightly for about a week in a row.

But other parties have condemned the so-called rehearsal protest as a blatant violation of important health measures. The Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, slated what it called efforts to organize a public protest during the pandemic.

In a press release, the PDK said it was “unacceptable” when “hundreds of thousands of Kosovo citizens cannot move freely, cannot go to work, cannot gather for iftar [the evening Muslim feast in Ramadan] with their relatives or perform other religious rituals, or freely hold collective family and social activities” for some others to “endanger the public health”.

Political analyst Fitim Salihu also condemned the initiative in a Facebook post. Salihu said the Ministry of Health might not continue easing restrictive measures on May 18, when the second phase of lifting COVID-19 measures is due to start, following to an increase in new cases since May 4. He warned that the government might decide to keep the current measures in place.

“Today, the Ministry of Interior and police did not act when hundreds of citizens were protesting in the middle of the square,” Salihu wrote, questioning “by what right a police officer can arrest me tomorrow if I miss my own schedule? The virus also catches [Prime Minister] Albin’s militants, not just us sinful mortals. The police must act to the same standard,” he said.

As of May 4, people in Kosovo have been allowed to more freely, up to twice a day for 90 minutes. Different business activities such as shops and construction sites have also reopened, as long as the facility is disinfected and people keep a distance and wear protective masks and gloves.

Currently, there are 919 coronavirus infected in Kosovo, with 671 recorded recoveries and a death toll of 29.