Tension, protests mark Serb elections in Kosovo

31/05/2010

The majority of votes in Sunday's local election in the divided town of Mitrovica went to the Serbian Progressive Party and the Democratic Party of Serbia.

By Linda Karadaku and Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Pristina and Belgrade -- 31/05/10

Kosovo police take their positions on the bridge during a protest in the divided town of Mitrovica on Sunday (May 30th). [Getty Images]

Kosovo Serbs headed to the polls Sunday (May 30th) to vote in unauthorised local elections organised by Serbian authorities in northern Kosovo. The vote was marked by tension between Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo Albanians.

A special unit of the Kosovo police used tear gas on the bridge in the divided town of Mitrovica to stop the sides from clashing, and KFOR soldiers deployed in the middle of the bridge to avoid violence between the two sides.

War veterans of the former Kosovo Liberation Army and members of the Vetevendosje movement gathered to show their dissatisfaction with the elections. The groups threw stones at each other, and local media reported that some journalists were attacked by Serb protestors. Gunshots coming from the Serb-dominated north were also reported.

KFOR personnel prevented the conflict from escalating by blocking the bridge with tanks and dropping tear gas, which soon broke up the crowds of demonstrators on both sides.

Albanians in the southern part of the town insisted Serbia should not be allowed to organise elections in Kosovo, whereas the Serbs in the northern part tried to prove, through demonstrations, that the north would never be part of Kosovo's institutions. The head of the War Veterans Association, Muharrem Xhemajli, who organised the rally, tried to get the protesters to stop at the main bridge. But the situation escalated further, with Serbs on the other side chanting "Serbia, Serbia".

"The important thing is that it did not come to the point of physical contact between the two groups. There was high level tension, but the situation was put under control," Besim Hoti, spokesperson for the Kosovo Police in the north, told the daily Koha Ditore.

The international community and Kosovo officials have said they will not recognise any elections by the Serb government in Mitrovica.

More than 20,000 Serbs have the right to vote and turnout was around 28%. The Belgrade government, which does not recognise Kosovo's independence, claims that under UN Security Council Resolution 1244, it has the right to organise local elections in Kosovo.

Opposition parties in the Serbian parliament -- the right-wing Serbian Progressive Party, led by Tomislav Nikolic, and Vojislav Kostunica's Democratic Party of Serbia -- won the majority of votes in northern Mitrovica. Both received over 17% of votes, but whether they will be able to form a local government is unclear.

Serbian President Boris Tadic's Democratic Party (DS) was third, with 16% of the votes. According to unofficial results, five other parties that are in coalition with the Democrats also won seats in the local assembly.

Kosovo Compromise project Director Aleksandar Mitic told SETimes that regardless of who forms the new government in northern Mitrovica, one should not expect any changes to the attitude towards Pristina authorities.

"Strong resistance to any kind of integration of northern Kosovo into the Kosovo governing bodies will definitely continue. Closer co-operation with EULEX should not be expected either. The differences will be minor and will primarily be reflected in the local Serb population's attitude towards the Belgrade authorities," Mitic said.

Serbian Minister for Kosovo and Metohija Goran Bogdanovic, a senior DS official, also expressed satisfaction with the election.

"Now comes the arduous work of forming municipal bodies," Bogdanovic told local media. He called on all parties to be responsible to all citizens of Mitrovica, so that the new local government can be formed "in a constructive atmosphere as soon as possible".