Kosovo referendum to remove Albanian mayors in Serb-dominated northern areas fails due to low turnout News
AgronBeqiri, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Kosovo referendum to remove Albanian mayors in Serb-dominated northern areas fails due to low turnout

A referendum to remove Albanian mayors in four Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo failed on Sunday following low turnout.

The Central Commission of Elections of Kosovo declared that until 15:30 only 203 citizens voted in the referendum, with around one percent turnout at the end of the process.

The referendum comes at heightened tensions between Kosovo and Serbia following the advancement of Kosovo’s membership into the Council of Europe, fiercely opposed by Serbia. Days ago the Serb List, the main Kosovo Serb political party, announced that it would not participate in the referendum.

The US Embassy in Kosovo said that it was regrettable for the Serb List to withdraw from the referendum, wasting an opportunity to participate in a democratic process guaranteeing a multi-ethnic Kosovo. Prime Minister Albin Kurti noted that Kosovo has met its obligations for the European Union to lift its sanctions against the country. President Vjosa Osmani made similar calls while adding that despite the Kosovo Serbs’ opportunity to remove the current mayors, interference from Belgrade made it impossible.

Initially, the Albanian mayors were elected after the resignation of four Serb List mayors in November 2022. Following tensions between Kosovo and Serbia on the issue of license plates, the Serb List departed from Kosovan institutions. New local elections were held in April of 2023 with a turnout of only three percent.

The US State Department and US Embassy in Kosovo recognized the legality of the early elections but asked Kosovo to postpone the installation of the newly elected mayors in the municipal halls. Instead, they asked the mayors to work from alternative locations. In May, however, mayors were installed with police patrols accompanying them. Protests and violence erupted in the north leaving hundreds of people injured, including international peacekeepers.

The EU demanded Kosovo suspend the police operations near the municipal halls in the north and start the process of removing the non-Serb mayors of Leposavić/Leposaviq, Zubin Potok, Zvečan/Zveçan and North Mitrovica.

The EU and US previously criticized Kosovo for forcefully accessing the municipal buildings despite calls for restraint, and Serbia for the decision to raise the level of readiness of its armed forces at the border with Kosovo.

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