Pristina’s Arrest of Serbian Directors in Gračanica Condemned as Political Pristina’s latest move in Kosovo’s tense electoral season has turned seven local health and school directors from Gračanica into the focal point of a new showdown over power, pressure and who really speaks for Kosovo’s Serbs.

On Tuesday, Kosovo authorities arrested seven Serbian directors of health and educational institutions in the Gračanica area, accusing them of “violating the free will of voters” ahead of the 7 June elections, following allegations of voter intimidation by minister Nenad Rašić. Two days later, the Basic Court of Pristina ordered up to 30 days’ detention for all seven.

By Thursday and Friday, the backlash in Serbian communities was visible on the streets. Peaceful rallies formed in front of hospitals, clinics and schools across Gračanica and nearby villages, as staff and locals staged “gatherings of support for the arrested Serbs, directors of educational and health institutions.”

From Belgrade’s side, the narrative hardened quickly. Srpska Lista vice‑president Igor Simić blasted the detentions as a “shameful, politically motivated and unfounded decision” designed to “pressure the health and education system which are the pillars on which the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija rest.” The party framed the case as part of a broader strategy by Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s government “to weaken Serbian institutions and intimidate the Serbian population.”

Security committee chair Milovan Drecun went further, arguing the arrests are a calibrated pre‑election tactic: Pristina is “pressuring and intimidating Serbs so they do not vote for the Serbian List,” he said, calling it an “established pattern” of Kurti’s behavior before every vote. By targeting “respected people like directors of institutions who have authority,” Drecun claims Kurti aims to sideline Srpska Lista and open space for Rašić’s group, “which is Albin Kurti’s list.”

For now, Pristina’s legal case rests on alleged coercion of voters; for Belgrade‑aligned officials, it looks like lawfare dressed up as democracy enforcement. With election day nearing, the message each side hears is starkly different — but the Serb directors sitting in pre‑trial detention are the ones paying the immediate price.