Before a new election, Serbia’s Vucic wants that Kosovo make compromises on local Serb autonomy

Reuters, June 9, Belgrade

On Friday, the president of Serbia requested Kosovo to delay holding new mayoral elections in its northern region until more autonomy had been provided to the ethnic Serbs who make up the local majority and who boycotted the previous poll.

“All Northern Serbs consider Serbia to be their nation, not Kosovo.”

Aleksandar Vucic, the president of Serbia, told Reuters in a Belgrade interview that this was the situation’s reality.

“There needs to be a (new) election organized,” says him.

Following the installation of ethnic Albanian mayors in numerous municipalities with a Serb majority following April local elections that saw a meager 3.5% turnout, violence broke out last week in the north of Kosovo.

NATO committed troops to its mission in Kosovo in reaction to the disturbance, which saw Serb demonstrators and NATO peacekeepers engage in battle and result in hundreds of injuries on both sides.

Strongest backers of Kosovo, the European Union and the United States, have pushed Pristina to hold fresh polls in the Serb-majority region to ease tensions and Serbia to end its state of battle readiness and withdraw its soldiers from Kosovo’s border.

Vucic, however, stated that certain concessions would need to be made by the Kosovo government in order to guarantee Serb participation in a fresh election.

Kosovo, a former Serbian province, proclaimed independence in 2008 following an uprising by its predominantly ethnic Albanian population.

“We still don’t have an association of Serb municipalities, there is still no withdrawal of (Kosovo Albanian) special police forces and mayors there,” he said.

Read more: Serbia’s Vucic demands Kosovo concessions on autonomy for local Serbs before new vote