Kosovo Govt Accused of Using COVID-19 to Impede Diaspora Vote

A decision of Kosovo's outgoing government to ease the COVID-19 prevention measures within the country - but not for visitors - only three days before elections, has drawn condemnation for making it more difficult for Kosovars working abroad to vote.

While easing health restrictions at home, the authorities are still demanding a PCR test or seven-day lockdown for all visitors from a list of high-risk countries.

"Politically, it is biased against citizens outside Kosovo and goes in line with decisions that hinder the participation of the diaspora in the elections, given that such a decision comes three days before election day," Lirim Krasniqi, CEO of the NGO Germin that deals with diaspora issues, told BIRN.

He added that the decision had also come "when a large number of compatriots have started, or have booked tickets, to come to Kosovo and vote".

In the 2019 snap elections, more than 50 per cent of diaspora members voted for the opposition Vetevendosje party.

The Ministry of Health insisted in a press release issued on Friday that the decision "was taken months ago" to demand a PCR test of every visitor entering from high-risk countries, taken within 72 hours of arrival - or a seven-day lockdown.

Suspicion that is another attempt to make diaspora voting more difficult lies mainly in the fact that the government lifted other COVID-19 prevention measures inside Kosovo on Thursday - three days before the snap elections.

"The curfew is lifted, university students may return to faculties physically, and economic operators may operate until 10pm," government spokesperson Antigona Baxhaku told BIRN at Thursday's government meeting.

The Council for Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms, KMLDNJ, on Friday in a...