UN civil administrator Soren Jessen Petersen said that the minimum percentage of Serbs who had cast their ballots was the result of a delayed election campaign by the Serbs and the pressure that had been exerted on them to boycott the vote.
Calling on all political forces to recognise the election results, Petersen said that Kosovo had passed the test of political maturity because the elections had been well organised and properly conducted, and that not a single serious incident had been recorded on election day.
The commander of the NATO-led KFOR peacekeeping force, General Yves de Kermabon of France, said that the elections had taken place in an atmosphere of security and that they had passed off without problem.
International police commissioner Kai Vittrup said that minor incidents that had occurred proved that Kosovo accepted democratic elections.
Preliminary results of the parliamentary elections are expected to be released on Monday.