The US Ambassador in Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier said on Wednesday that he would work with the Kosovo government to find an acceptable way for the Kosovo Serbs to vote in the coming elections.

“The US and our partners believe that it is appropriate for citizens who have the right to vote in Serbian elections be able to exercise the right to do so,” he told Kosovo TV (RTK) commenting the fact that the authorities in Pristina did not allow the Serbs to vote at the recent referendum.

The ambassador recalled that the international community worked with the Kosovo authorities to come up with an arrangement several years ago which would allow people with the right to vote in Serbia to vote in Kosovo. The OSCE mission organized and facilitated elections by ensuring they were conducted in a way acceptable to Pristina, he added.

The US position is clear – Kosovo has the right to determine the terms under which other countries’ elections take place in Kosovo, the ambassador said. “Our hope had been that the Kosovo govenrment would allow the same arrangement … in order to allow those people to vote,” Hovenier said.

The ambassador said that the US position for the coming elections in Serbia would be to work with the government in Kosovo to find arrangements acceptable to Pristina which would allow people to vote.