Nenad Radosavljević

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Nenad Radosavljević (Serbian Cyrillic: Ненад Радосављевић; born 31 March 1961) is a Kosovo Serb politician, administrator, and media owner. He was a prominent figure in the Kosovo Serb community in the early years of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) mandate.

Early life and career[edit]

Before entering political life, Radosavljević was director of the ironworks factory at Lešak in Leposavić and director general of the tools factory in Zvečan.[1]

Politician and administrator[edit]

SNV leader, mayor, and parliamentarian (1999–2002)[edit]

Radosavljević led the Leposavić branch of the Serbian National Council (SNV) after the end of the Kosovo War (1998–99). He owned a radio station in northern Kosovo during this time, was active with the New Democracy (ND) party, and was a prominent local opponent of Slobodan Milošević's government.

Relations between Kosovo's majority Albanian and minority Serb communities were generally poor in the aftermath of the Kosovo War. The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) organized a census for Kosovo in 2000, which was largely boycotted by the Serb community, as a prelude to local elections later in the same year. Unlike some community leaders, Radosavljević was open to the prospect of co-operation with OSCE and Serb participation in the vote.[2] His position met with strong opposition, with some arguing that any poll would be premature before the security situation improved and Serb refugees could return to province. On one occasion, a registration drive in Leposavić that had been approved by Radosavljević was shut down by community militants from Kosovska Mitrovica.[3][4] One news report indicates that Radosavljević was forced to stand down as municipal SNV leader because of his position on the matter, though this is contradicted by another report indicating that he continued serving until 2001.[5][6]

Radosavljević attended talks in Washington, D.C., in July 2000 as a representative of the SNV. The talks did not deal with the status of Kosovo but rather with ending the ongoing violence between the Serb and Albanian communities and creating the conditions for democratic institutions in the area.[7][8]

New Democracy participated in the 2000 Yugoslavian general election as part of the Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), and Radosavljević campaigned with DOS presidential candidate Vojislav Koštunica in Leposavić.[9][10] Koštunica defeated Slobodan Milošević in the election, a watershed moment in the political life of Yugoslavia and Serbia.

The Serb community generally boycotted the 2000 local elections in Kosovo, and the results in Leposavić were not validated. A new municipal assembly was later appointed under the auspices of UNMIK, and the assembly selected Radosavljević as mayor.[11][12] He stood down later in 2001.[13]

Radosavljević appeared in the fifth position on the list of the Serbian "Return" coalition in the 2001 Kosovan parliamentary election, which was held via closed list proportional representation under the auspices of UNMIK, and was elected when the list won twenty-two seats.[14] After the election, he complained that Serb politicians were largely being ignored in the assembly, against the backdrop of ongoing conflicts among the province's Albanian parties.[15]

UNMIK representative (2002–05)[edit]

In May 2002, Radosavljević was appointed as a senior advisor to UNMIK leader Michael Steiner at the nomination of the "Return" coalition. He held responsibility for returns (i.e., of displaced persons) and communities.[16][17] In this capacity, he encouraged Serbs to participate in the 2002 Kosovan local elections.[18] After the poor performance of the "Return" group in these elections, Radosavljević remarked that the coalition was approaching its logical end.[19]

He opposed an assembly boycott by Serb MPs in 2002, saying, "It is not courageous if Serb deputies leave the Kosovo parliament and run away from it. The courageous thing to do is to fight regardless of the difficult position in which Return Coalition deputies have been working since the very beginning." He added that Serb MPs had done creditable work in fighting to ensure freedom of movement, safety, and the return of Serb property throughout the province.[20]

In the aftermath of the March 2004 unrest in Kosovo, Radosavljević said that attempts to reconstruct Serb homes in Svinjare were being hindered by extremist elements in the Albanian community, who were dismantling newly restored homes on an almost nightly basis.[21] He refused to sign a declaration for a Kosovo ministry on the rights of communities, human rights, and return issues in this period, arguing that the ministry would simply give the province's Albanian leadership increased rights without increased responsibility.[22] He described the ministry's eventual creation as "an attempt by UNMIK to avoid the responsibility for not working and having bad results."[23]

In October 2004, Radosavljević expressed concern that Serbs in Kosovo were being offered large sums of money to sell their homes in order to reduce the community's numbers in the province.[24]

He resigned from his UNMIK position on 26 January 2005, saying, "there is neither ethical nor political reason for me to create an illusion of well-being in the post of a high advisor, and to, without a possibility to prevent it, watch the further cleansing of my people instead of their return."[25]

From 2005 to 2022[edit]

The Serbian government established a Council for Kosovo-Metohija in February 2005, and Radosavljević was appointed as one of its members.[26] Two months later, he was one of six SNV delegates who participated in a meeting with Serbian prime minister Vojislav Koštunica.[27]

New Democracy was renamed as the Liberals of Serbia (LS) in 2003. The party contested the 2007 Serbian parliamentary election on the electoral list of the Serbian Renewal Movement (SPO). Radosavljević was included on the list, which did not cross the electoral threshold to win assembly representation.[28]

In October 2007, Radosavljević walked out of a round-table discussion on the status of Kosovo organized by the American-based Project on Ethnic Relations, on the grounds that the views of Serb participants were being ignored.[29]

The Liberals of Serbia initially planned to participate in the 2007 Kosovan parliamentary election but ultimately chose not to do so. Radosavljević explained that the party's change in strategy was due to the Serbian government's call for a boycott, saying, "a clash of interests between the state and Serbs in the region would undoubtedly be detrimental to the Kosovo people. Without state support, without stronger Serbian institutions in the province, it is unlikely the Serbs could have survived."[30] He later argued that the boycott was a mistake; had the Serbs voted, he said, "they would have had their legitimate representatives and there would be no problem as to who is or is not legitimate."[31]

Radosavljević ran for mayor of Leposavić in the 2013 local elections as the candidate of his own "People's Justice" movement and finished in fifth place. "People's Justice" won a seat on the municipal assembly, which automatically went to Radosavljević as the list's leader.[32][33] In September 2014, he said that he and three other elected delegates had never received invitations to the assembly, which he contended was therefore improperly constituted.[34] He ran for mayor again in the 2017 local elections and finished a distant third; on this occasion, his list did not win any assembly mandates.[35][36]

Radosavljević is now the owner of TV Mir in Leposavić. He is a vocal opponent of Serbian president Aleksandar Vučić, whom he has described as operating a dictatorial regime.[37] In 2021, he rejected the suggestion that health and education services in northern Kosovo's Serb communities could be integrated into the Republic of Kosovo's system. "Health and education must remain an integral part of the Serbian system even now," he said.[38]

North Kosovo crisis (2022–present)[edit]

Radosavljević has been extremely critical of Serbia's political leadership in the ongoing North Kosovo crisis. In December 2022, he charged that barricades had been erected in northern Kosovo to protect the interests of the Serb List political party rather than the local population.[39]

In April 2023, he said that a pending mayoral election in Leposavić would lack legitimacy due to a Serb boycott and that any local administration resulting from the election would be unsustainable.[40] The vote took place on 23 April, and Lulzim Hetemi of the Vetëvendosje (VV) party was elected mayor against the backdrop of a very low turnout.

In July 2023, Radosavljević accepted an appointment from Leposavić's municipal government to lead the directorate of sports, youth, and culture. He said that he had not personally interacted with Hetemi and that he accepted the position in order to provide stability and normalization.[41][42]

Electoral record[edit]

Local (Leposavić)[edit]

2017 Kosovan local elections: Mayor of Leposavić
CandidatePartyVotes%
Zoran TodićSerb List5,10563.20
Dragan Jablanović (incumbent)Party of Kosovo Serbs2,80734.75
Nenad RadosavljevićCivic Initiative "People's Justice"1662.05
Total8,078100.00
Source: [43]
2013 Kosovan local elections: Mayor of Leposavić
CandidatePartyVotes%
Dragan JablanovićCivic Initiative "Srpska"2,22551.48
Blagoje NedeljkovićDemocratic Initiative94021.75
Dragiša KrstovićIndependent Liberal Party53812.45
Radomir VeličkovićCivic Initiative "SDP - Oliver Ivanović"2445.65
Nenad RadosavljevićPeople's Justice2094.84
Slađan KostićCivic Initiative "Together"1663.84
Total4,322100.00
Source: [44]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Kosovo UN chief's adviser from Serb coalition commences work," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 10 June 2002 (Source: Text of report by Serbian news agency Beta).
  2. ^ "Kosovo voter registration extended, some Serbs may now take part: Everts," Agence France-Presse, 14 July 2000.
  3. ^ "Serb hardliners force early closure of Kosovo voter registration centre," Agence France Presse, 16 July 2000.
  4. ^ "Serbian opposition parties urge Leposavic Serbs to register in census," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring Service: Central Europe & Balkans, 21 July 2000 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1339 gmt 19 Jul 00).
  5. ^ "Serb hardliners force early closure of Kosovo voter registration centre," Agence France Presse, 16 July 2000.
  6. ^ "Kosovo Serb political landscape: People’s Justice", Kossev, 9 September 2019, accessed 24 March 2024.
  7. ^ "Group names Kosovo Serbs, Albanians participating in Washington conference," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 19 July 2000 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1334 gmt 18 Jul 00).
  8. ^ "Kosovo Serbs and Albanians sign declaration to end violence - agency," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 26 July 2000 (Source: Beta news agency, Belgrade, in Serbo-Croat 1418 gmt 25 Jul 00).
  9. ^ "Yugoslav opposition leader pelted in Kosovo," Agence France Presse, 14 September 2000.
  10. ^ "Kostunica campaign rolls into Kosovo," Agence France Presse, 14 September 2000.
  11. ^ "SRSG Inaugurates Leposavic Municipal Assembly," United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, 20 November 2000.
  12. ^ "Nebojša Čović sastavlja listu", Archived 2022-02-05 at the Wayback Machine, Glas javnosti, 25 November 2001, accessed 24 March 2024.
  13. ^ "Kosovo Serb political landscape: People’s Justice", Kossev, 9 September 2019, accessed 24 March 2024.
  14. ^ ZGJEDHJET PËR KUVEND TË REPUBLIKËS SË KOSOVËS 2001 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Kandidatët e zgjedhur sipas Subjekteve Politike), Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, accessed 12 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Kosovo Serb MP - Albanians too busy arguing for Kosovo parliament to function," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 21 December 2001 (Source: Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet).
  16. ^ "Kosovo Serb coalition nominates candidates for posts in government, UNMIK," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 7 May 2002 (Excerpt from report by Serbian news agency Beta).
  17. ^ "Kosovo UN chief's adviser from Serb coalition commences work," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European - Political, 10 June 2002 (Source: Text of report by Serbian news agency Beta). Radosavljević appears to have resigned from the assembly on taking this position.
  18. ^ "Aide to UNMIK chief says Kosovo Serbs should participate in local elections," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 15 October 2002 (Source: Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet).
  19. ^ "UNMIK official blames Serbia's Covic for Kosovo Serb election 'failure'," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 30 October 2002 (Source: Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet).
  20. ^ Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet, British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 29 December 2002.
  21. ^ "Kosovo Serb adviser: Restoration of houses impossible due to overnight robberies," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 23 June 2004 (Source: Excerpt from report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet).
  22. ^ "Serb official refused to sign declaration setting up Kosovo ministry for return," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 15 July 2004 (Source: Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet).
  23. ^ "UNMIK wants to avoid responsibility for lack of return to Kosovo - employee," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 10 November 2004 (Source: Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet).
  24. ^ "Albanians buying Kosovo Serb property to complete 'ethnic cleansing' - official," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 20 October 2004 (Source: Excerpt from report by N. Zejak: "Exorbitant sums offered for Serb houses", published by Serbian newspaper Blic on 10 October).
  25. ^ "UNMIK chief's Serb advisor resigns over Kosovo refugee plight," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 26 January 2005 (Source: Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet). His resignation was met with indifference by some in the Serb community. Oliver Ivanović remarked that Radosavljević had accomplished nothing of significance in any event. See "Resigned advisor to UN head in Kosovo achieved nothing anyway - Serb official," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 26 January 2006 (Source: Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet).
  26. ^ "Serbian government forms Council for Kosovo," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 18 February 2005 (Source: Excerpt from report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet).
  27. ^ "Serbian premier, Kosovo Serb delegation highlight need to fulfil standards," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 21 April 2005 (Source: Text of report by Serbian independent news agency FoNet).
  28. ^ Избори за народне посланике Народне скупштине одржани 21. јануара и 8. фебрауара 2007. године – ИЗБОРНЕ ЛИСТЕ (7 Српски покрет обнове - Вук Драшковић), Republic Election Commission, Republic of Serbia, accessed 10 July 2021. Radosavljević received the 177th position on the list.
  29. ^ "Kosovo Serb politicians quit round table after Albanian colleagues 'ignore' them," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 26 October 2007 (Source: Kontakt Plus, Kosovska Mitrovica, in Serbian 1400gmt 26 Oct 07).
  30. ^ "Kosovo Serb officials outline reasons for participating in Kosovo elections," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 14 November 2007 (Source: Text of report by Belgrade-based Radio B92 text website on 13 November).
  31. ^ "Kosovo Serb official explains 'reasons for lack of refugee return," British Broadcasting Corporation Monitoring European, 12 December 2007 (Source: Text of report by Serbian private independent news agency FoNet).
  32. ^ Zgjedhjet për Kuvende Komunale 2013 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat – Rezultatet e të gjithë kandidatëve sipas komunave, Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 120.
  33. ^ Zgjedhjet për Kuvende Komunale 2013 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat – Rezultatet e subjekteve sipas vendvotimeve, Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 15.
  34. ^ "Nenad Radosavljević: SO Leposavić nelegitimna i nelegalna", Kosovo Sever portal, 15 September 2014, accessed 19 January 2022.
  35. ^ ZGJEDHJET PËR KUVENDE KOMUNALE 2017 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Rezultatet e subjekteve sipas komunave), Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 14, accessed 20 January 2022.
  36. ^ "Kosovo Serb political landscape: People’s Justice", Kosovo Sever portal, 9 September 2019, accessed 19 January 2022.
  37. ^ "Komentar dana: Nenad Radosavljević", Kosovo Sever portal, 13 October 2021, accessed 19 January 2022.
  38. ^ Jelina Tasić, "Trajković: Na KiM funkcioniše samo srpski sistem zdravstvene zaštite", Danas, 10 August 2021, accessed 19 January 2022.
  39. ^ "Radosavljević: Barikade nemaju efekta, blokiraju život Srba sa severa Kosova", Danas, 22 December 2022, accessed 11 October 2023.
  40. ^ Vojin Radovanović, "'Jablanović istrgovao sa Beogradom i Srpskom listom': Nenad Radosavljević o povlačenju predsednika PKS sa izbora na Severu Kosova", Danas, 22 April 2023, accessed 11 October 2023.
  41. ^ "Radosavljević izabran za direktora u Opštini Leposavić: Potrebna nam je stabilnost, imam velika očekivanja, situacija nije sporna", KosSev, 4 July 2023, accessed 11 October 2023.
  42. ^ "Zašto je Nenad Radosavljević iz Leposavića prihvatio da bude deo kabineta gradonačelnika protiv kog Srbi protestuju?", Danas, 5 July 2023, accessed 11 October 2023.
  43. ^ ZGJEDHJET PËR KRYETARË TË KOMUNAVE 2017 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Raundi i parë) – Rezultatet e kandidatëve për Kryetar Komune, Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 13, accessed 12 January 2022.
  44. ^ ZGJEDHJET PËR KRYETARË TË KOMUNAVE 2013 – Rezultatet dhe Statistikat (Raundi i parë) – Rezultatet e kandidatëve për Kryetar Komune, Central Election Commission, Republic of Kosovo, p. 13.
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