Kosovo can hold new elections in Serb-majority cities rocked by violent protests if 20 percent of voters sign a petition demanding it, the president told Reuters.
In an exclusive interview in her office, President Vjosa Osmani said she believes a petition is the “most democratic way” to proceed with new elections.
“In this way, I think we would guarantee the participation of the Serbs because the request would come from them, from the citizens,” he said.
Violent protests erupted in four northern municipalities after Kosovo installed ethnic Albanian mayors who were elected to office with a voter turnout of just 3.5%. Serbs, the majority in the region, boycotted local elections.
Osmani said removing the mayors through an election petition would be “a sort of referendum” that would pave the way for a second vote to elect the new mayors. According to her, the whole process can be completed in a few months.
It was unclear, however, whether local Serbian voters would participate in a petition.
Serbs in the northern region of Kosovo do not accept Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008, nearly a decade after a war in the region ended, and still see Belgrade as their capital.
As tensions between Serbia and Kosovo rise, the Western military alliance North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has bolstered its peacekeeping troops in the north of the country.
Osmani said he wanted peacekeepers to remain until Kosovo is admitted to NATO.
Osmani said that before new elections are called, Kosovo needs reassurances from the international community that Belgrade will not interfere.
Serbia denies Kosovo’s allegations that it prevented Serbian candidates from standing at the polls. He also denies allegations that the protesters who clashed with NATO troops and police in the northern regions on May 29 were sent from Belgrade.
Serbia still formally considers Kosovo part of its territory. Serbs in northern Kosovo are seeking greater autonomy for their region under a 2013 deal that has not been implemented.
Last week, an adviser to US President Joe Biden spoke with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, urging Serbia to withdraw armed forces stationed near the border and calling on protesters to remain peaceful. .
Source: Terra
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