Kosovo President Open To New Elections In Northern Areas

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said Thursday that the self-proclaimed republic is willing to consider holding new elections in four Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo.

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“Our legislation allows for this possibility, and we are ready to consider it based on the law on Kosovo elections,” the president told French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who suggested holding new polls to ease recent clashes in the region.

The proposal came at the summit of the European Political Community held in Chisinau, Moldova. Both Macron and Scholz held a meeting with the President of Kosovo in the framework of the summit of European leaders.

On this occasion, the diplomats pressed for an end to the clashes that have been raging since last week between Serbian citizens, with Kosovar officials and NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR).

The Serb population is protesting the forced installation of ethnic Albanian mayors in the Serb-majority municipalities of Zvecan, Leposaviq and Zubin Potok. The ethnic Albanian mayors were elected in April’s elections boycotted by Serbs and with a turnout of less than 3.5%.

The ethnic Albanian mayor, Lulzim Hetemi, has been in his office in Leposavic since early May 29, while the ethnic Albanian mayors of Zvecan and Zubin Potok are working remotely from their home villages.

The situation in the region remains tense, as KFOR has installed barbed wire barricades around municipal buildings to keep protesters at bay. According to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, 52 Serbs were injured in the clashes, and NATO forces put the number of wounded soldiers at 30.

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