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Minister says Serbia to hold local elections in Kosovo

Autor: half
BELGRADE, March 27 (Hina) - Serbian Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic has said that Serbia did not give up the intention of holding parliamentary and local elections in Kosovo, despite a negative response from the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK).

He was quoted in Belgrade's Danas daily of Tuesday as saying that Serbia would continue talks with UNMIK, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and all relevant international actors to make sure that Serbian elections were held in Kosovo.

Asked if the Serbian government was agreed on the holding of elections in Kosovo, Bogdanovic said "the position on that was clearly expressed when elections were called throughout Serbia's territory."

He said the seriousness of the situation and responsibility showed that one must bear in mind that without the support of international peacekeepers south of the Ibar river, it would be difficult to hold the elections, and that one must also take into account security risks and the threats from Pristina and Albanian extremists.

"Those facts aren't an excuse to give up but must be taken into account when deciding on the holding of elections, so that the people are not exposed to the risk of violence."

Asked why Belgrade insisted on talks with UNMIK, given that the mission had transferred its powers to Pristina, losing any real political meaning, Bogdanovic said that "despite all the shortcomings", UNMIK and the UN secretary-general's special representative remained the guardians of Resolution 1244.

Bogdanovic said that if Serbian local elections were not held in Kosovo, this would not lead to the closing of the Serbian institutions existing there.

Serbia called parliamentary and provincial elections for May 6. The parliament speaker called local elections for the same day, including Kosovo. Kosovo's parliament then adopted a resolution banning the holding of Serbian parliamentary and local elections in Kosovo, with Speaker Jakup Krasniqi saying that Serbian elections in Kosovo would be stopped by force if necessary.

(Hina) ha

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