{"id":29516,"date":"2022-01-16T12:53:09","date_gmt":"2022-01-16T11:53:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/?p=29516"},"modified":"2022-01-16T12:53:09","modified_gmt":"2022-01-16T11:53:09","slug":"serbs-in-kosovo-travel-to-neighboring-serbia-to-vote-in-national-referendum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/serbs-in-kosovo-travel-to-neighboring-serbia-to-vote-in-national-referendum\/","title":{"rendered":"Serbs in Kosovo travel to neighboring Serbia to vote in national referendum"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hundreds of ethnic Serbs living in Kosovo are crossing the border to Serbia today, in order to participate in a national referendum that is expected to make several changes to the Serbian Constitution.<\/p>\n

Kosovo\u2019s Special Forces have been spotted at the Jarinja border crossing, and are mobilized to intervene if necessary.<\/p>\n

The ethnic Serbian minority will be voting in 4 communes in southern Serbia \u2013 a decision that was made this Sunday, by the Electoral Commission in Belgrade.<\/p>\n

The Commission chair, Vladimir Dimitrijevic, said that Serbs in Kosovo will be able to cast their ballot in Novi Pazar, Rashke e Vranje \u2013 communes in southern Serbia that are located close to the countries border with Kosovo.<\/p>\n

In the early morning hours, a protest staged by ethnic Serbs, took place in North Mitrovica, led by the head of the Serbian List and minister in the Kurti administration, Goran Rakic.<\/p>\n

He announced that mayors of 10 communes with a Serbian majority in Kosovo are coming out to make a joint public statement.<\/p>\n

Rakic added that if Kosovo\u2019s government doesn\u2019t allow for the Serbian elections to take place on April 3, they will have to impose the reciprocity principle in northern Kosovo.<\/p>\n

According to him, this will be initially applied to North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposavic and Zvecan, but gradually moved on to the other Serb-majority communes as well.<\/p>\n

Kosovo\u2019s government has banned the organization of a Serbian referendum in its territory. During the extraordinary plenum, Kosovo\u2019s Parliament voted against holding such a referendum on its soil.<\/p>\n

Even though Serbia has made several calls to allow Serbs living in Kosovo to participate in their national referendum, authorities in Prishtina have argued that they can\u2019t recognize the right of another nation to hold a referendum in the territory of another sovereign state.<\/p>\n

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