Repeat Elections Ordered in Northern Kosovo After Violence

Municipal elections were held around Kosovo on November 3. Photo by EPA/BGNES

The Central Election Commission of Kosovo has ordered a repeat of the vote in the 3 northern polling stations, which were attacked on Sunday.

Kosovo's municipal elections were marred by a boycott of the ethnic Serbian population of Mitrovica, as well as several incidents involving masked men who stormed the polling stations and caused their early closure.

Local police are still investigating and trying to identify the perpetrators of the attacks. The international community has strongly condemned the attempts to sabotage the vote.

The municipal elections were seen as a key test to the normalization of relations between Pristina and Belgrade, after the two governments signed an EU-brokered deal. Sunday's incidents are likely to have a negative effect on their EU-accession hopes.

Serbs living in the northern provinces have strongly opposed the independence of Kosovo, declared in 2008.

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