Belgrade determined to hold parliamentary elections in Kosovo

Belgrade determined to hold parliamentary elections in Kosovo

PanARMENIAN.Net - Goran Bogdanović says Belgrade has not given up on organizing both local and parliamentary elections in Kosovo, after a negative reply from United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Serbian media reported.

"We will continue our discussions with the UN mission (UNMIK), OSCE, all relevant international organizations, in order to secure unimpeded elections in Kosovo," the minister for Kosovo and Metohija told March 27 edition of the Belgrade-based daily Danas.

Last week, the head UNMIK told the Serbian authorities that "under present circumstances", the mission could not organize the voting in Kosovo.

"We must take into account all the facts: that it is hard to organize elections south of the Ibar River without the support of the international presence, or deliver election materials. There are security threats, threats from Priština and (ethnic) Albanian extremists," said the minister.

In an interview for Večernje Novosti, Bogdanović was quoted as saying that "consultations will be held with the international community so that elections are held at least for the state parliament".

According to him, Serbia will seek a clarification of the message sent by the United States that "they found it acceptable for all citizens of Kosovo who have dual citizenships to take part in the election".

"We're not really clear on what the United States have in mind. We consider all residents of Kosovo to be citizens of our country alone," he was quoted by the daily.

The minister added that he had no data on how many Serbs who live in the province took the documents issued by the Kosovo Albanian authorities, saying that "Priština is not publishing that data", but that "a considerable number of our citizens who live (in enclaves) south of the Ibar River did".

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