President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, has said that Kosovo can announce new elections in the municipalities in the north of Kosovo, if 20 percent of voters sign a petition with this request.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the Reuters news agency, Osmani said that she believes that the petition is the “most democratic way” to announce elections.<\/p>\n
“In this way, I think we guarantee the participation of the Serbs, because the request would have to come from them, from the citizens”, she said.<\/p>\n
Local Serbs have been protesting regularly since May 29 in the municipalities in the north of Kosovo: Zve\u00e7an, Leposaviq and Zubin Potok, to oppose the entry of the new Albanian mayors into the municipal buildings.<\/p>\n
Members of Serbian community boycotted the April elections, which were won by Albanian candidates.<\/p>\n
On May 29, the protest escalated into violence between members of NATO mission in Kosovo, KFOR and Serbian protesters.<\/p>\n
Osmani said that removal of current presidents, through a petition, would be “like a referendum”, which would pave the way for a second election process.<\/p>\n
She has said that the whole process can be completed within months.<\/p>\n
Osmani said that before the new elections are announced, Kosovo must receive guarantees from the international community that Belgrade will not interfere.<\/p>\n
However, it remains unclear whether Serbian voters will start a petition.<\/p>\n
Serb List, the main Serbian party in Kosovo, said on Monday that it may participate in the eventual elections if certain conditions are met.<\/p>\n
She has mentioned the withdrawal of special units of Kosovo Police from the north, the removal of new Albanian mayors from municipal buildings, and formation of the Association of municipalities with a Serbian majority.<\/p>\n
After increase of tensions in the north, NATO has increased its presence in Kosovo, within the framework of its mission, KFOR.<\/p>\n
Osmani has said that she wants the peacekeeping troops to stay in Kosovo, until this country is accepted in NATO.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, has said that Kosovo can announce new elections in the municipalities in the north of Kosovo, if 20 percent of voters sign a petition with this request. In an interview with the Reuters news agency, Osmani said that she believes that the petition is the “most democratic way” to announce […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":54926,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[163,1803],"tags":[348,243,151,430,1791,2610],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n