Years of violations of linguistic rights and the absence of political will to change this practice have led to a systemic problem that continues to burden institutions and citizens, primarily of Serbian nationality. For this reason, NGO Aktiv and Radio Kim are launching a public advocacy campaign to urge institutions to address this issue.
Focus: The recent electoral process has once again highlighted serious issues, from a lack of information in the Serbian language to poor or incomplete translations. Numerous citizen complaints indicate that this problem must be resolved.
The campaign starts with the Central Election Commission (CEC) and its Secretariat, with a clear demand to eliminate linguistic anomalies and ensure equal access to information in both official languages in Kosovo.
The Kosovo Central Election Commission (CEC) is supposed to ensure transparency and equality in the electoral process. However, an analysis of the official CEC website and social media has revealed numerous irregularities that violate the Law on the Use of Languages and the rights of Serbian-speaking citizens.
What did we discover on the CEC website?
➡️ Broken links – Many links on the Serbian version of the website do not work[1], preventing Serbian-speaking citizens from accessing key information.
➡️ Numerous spelling errors – The Serbian-language section of the CEC website is in extremely poor, almost unreadable condition [2].
➡️ Unequal representation of CEC members – The Albanian version[3] lists 11 CEC members, while the Serbian version[4] shows only 5.
➡️ Organizational chart – In the Serbian language section, the chart on the CEC’s organizational structure is shown exclusively in the Albanian language [5].
➡️ Voting instructions – An information poster on how to vote on the Serbian website exists only in Albanian[6].
➡️ Attitude towards media reporting in Serbian – There is no information in Serbian on the CEC website about the accreditation of journalists and observers[7].
➡️ Election statistics do not exist in Serbian – Data on elections for the Kosovo Assembly (2019[8] and 2021[9]), as well as local elections[10] in municipalities with a Serbian majority[11] (North Mitrovica, Zvečan, Leposavić, Zubin Potok) are not available on the Serbian version of the site.
➡️ Non-functional internal regulation – On the Serbian version of the site, no link in the “Internal regulation of the CEC” segment is working[12].
➡️ Electoral operational plan and public information – These sections are available exclusively in the Albanian language.
➡️ Meetings and agendas of the CEC – On the Serbian part of the website, official decisions, minutes and announcements of meetings are published exclusively in Albanian[13].
➡️ Employment advertisements – On the Serbian part of the site, vacancies[14] and applications[15] are written in the Albanian language, while the same situation applies to the archives of previous contests[16].
➡️ Annual report – The last report in the Serbian language dates from 2016[17], while in Albanian it was published until 2022[18].
Identical issues exist on CEC’s social media platforms
Facebook[19] – Posts are regularly first in Albanian, then in English, and only at the end (if at all) in Serbian. English is not an official language in Kosovo, but it is often preferred over Serbian.
Instagram[20] – Some announcements have no Serbian translation at all – information is only available in Albanian and English.
X [21]– The information campaign in video format is available exclusively in the Albanian language, while the accompanying text is in English. The Serbian language is almost completely omitted.
Why is this important?
The Law on the Use of Languages clearly stipulates that Albanian and Serbian are equal official languages in Kosovo. However, the way the CEC functions shows that the Serbian language is systematically suppressed and neglected. This kind of practice not only discriminates against a part of Kosovo’s citizens, but also undermines trust in institutions and democracy.
We call on the CEC, as well as international organizations and actors, to urgently deal with these irregularities and provide equal access to information in both official languages.
[1] http://sherbimet-per-votuesit/
[2] https://kqz-ks.org/sr/osnivanje-i-organizacija/
[3] https://kqz-ks.org/anetaret-e-kqz-se/
[4] https://kqz-ks.org/sr/anetaret-e-kqz-se/
[5] https://kqz-ks.org/sr/organizaciona-sema-cik/
[6] https://kqz-ks.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Posteri-per-votim-jashte-Kosoves.png
[7] file:///C:/Users/ASUS/Desktop/Istrazivanje,%20Medijsko%20pracenje%20kosovskih%20izbora,%20Isak,%20final.pdf
[8] https://kqz-ks.org/sr/izbori-za-skupstinu-kosova/izbori-za-skupstinu-kosova-2019/
[9] https://kqz-ks.org/sr/izbori-za-skupstinu-kosova/izbori-za-skupstinu-kosova-2021/
[10] https://kqz-ks.org/sr/izbori-za-predsednike-opstina/zgjedhjet-per-kryetar-komune-2022/
[11] https://kqz-ks.org/sr/izbori-za-skupstine-opstina/zgjedhjet-e-parakohshme-per-kuvendet-e-komunave-zvecan-dhe-leposaviq-2022/
[12] https://kqz-ks.org/sr/interna-regulativa-cik-a/
[13] https://kqz-ks.org/sr/mbledhjet-e-kqz-se-2025/
[14] https://kqz-ks.org/sr/otvoreni-konkursi/
[15] https://kqz-ks.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Verifikimi-per-Istog.pdf
[16] https://kqz-ks.org/sr/arhiva-konkursa/
[17] https://kqz-ks.org/sr/godisnji-izvestaji/
[18] https://kqz-ks.org/raporte-per-kuvendin/
[19] https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Dbsewpxvm/
[20] https://www.instagram.com/p/DHG8H8ZIrDR/?igsh=MTdueG43bTFhbWN0ZQ==
[21] https://x.com/KQZKosova/status/1883817226714628126
