Serbs boycott vote to dismiss ethnic Albanian mayors

Kosovo Central Election Commission chief Kreshni Radoniqi said that the voter turnout was far below the required 50 percent (plus one vote) which means the referendum failed. He said that 124 of 13,000 registered voters turned out in Leposavic, 18 of 6,000 in Zubin Potok, 111 in Mitrovic north and none in Zvecan.

The referendum was called to replace the ethnic Albanian mayors who were elected in a vote that the Serbs boycotted. Those elections were followed by unrest in the four northern majority-Serb municipalities. The police said no incidents were reported.

The Belgrade-backed Serb List said the vote was a farce organized by the Kurti regime. A statement said that the Kosovo Serb party was right to call the Serbs not to vote, adding that they were ready to turn out to vote to replace the mayors but did not want to play the Pristina regime’s game and give the process legitimacy. It said the Serbs showed a high level of unity and proved that they were not intimidated by the Serb List and Belgrade but by the Kosovo Prime Minister and “his illegal para-police”.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said that the boycott happened because of pressure from the Serbian authorities. “Once again, Serbia illegally interfered in another state's electoral process. Once again, Vucic broke the word he had given to international partners,” a Facebook post said. “By organizing today's process, Kosovo has met all the conditions required by the EU. Unjust measures against Kosovo should be immediately removed,” Osmani added.