Officials of the Belgrade-backed Serb List told US Ambassador in Pristina Jeff Hovenier that they won’t stand in elections until the Community of Serb Municipalities (CSM) is formed.

They said that the Kosovo police special units also have to withdraw from the north of Kosovo.

A press release said that the party’s delegation, headed by leader Goran Rakic, met with Hovenier and told him the party would not field candidates in the coming early local elections in majority-Serb north Kosovo municipalities until their demands are met. “Those are the forming of the CSM and withdrawal of all of Pristina’s special units from the north of Kosovo and Metohija,” the Serb List said after the meeting with the ambassador.

Kosovo Serbs quit institutions in the north, including the police, in protest over the Kosovo government decision to dismiss a senior officer who refused to issue tickets to drivers with Serbia-issued license plates. The authorities in Pristina decided to outlaw license plates issued by Serbia for municipalities in Kosovo and ordered drivers to replace them with Kosovo plates or face fines.