Early elections in Serbian enclaves of Kosovo postponed to April 2023
Early elections of the heads of four communities in the north of the region of Kosovo and Metohija captured by Albanian separatists, populated mainly by Serbs, have been postponed to April 23, 2023, the office of the “President of the Republic of Kosovo” Vjosa Osmani said.
According to Osmani's office, among Kosovo's political parties "there is complete consensus regarding the postponement of elections in the North, and the assessment of the competent authorities on the security situation in the North has also been taken into account."
After the mass exodus of Serbs from institutions under the control of Pristina in early November, the “President of the Republic of Kosovo” Vjosa Osmani called early elections for the heads of the four northern communities for December 18, 2022, and after the self-dissolution of the assemblies (councils) of the communities of Leposavic and Zvecan, elections to these bodies were scheduled for December 25.
The embassies of the Quinta countries and the EU mission in Pristina welcomed the decision to postpone elections in four municipalities in northern Kosovo, said German Ambassador to Pristina Jorn Rode.
“The embassies of France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, the United States and the EU Delegation welcome the decision of the Kosovo government and political party leaders to postpone municipal and mayoral elections in the four northern municipalities for the time being,” the German diplomat said.
Earlier, Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Botsan-Kharchenko stated that the authorities of the self-proclaimed "Republic of Kosovo" are steadily increasing their security presence in the Serb-populated north of the region. According to the Russian diplomat, the situation in the region is at a dangerous level.
As PolitNavigator reported , police and special forces of the self-proclaimed "Republic of Kosovo" forcibly seized the premises of election commissions in municipalities in northern Kosovo and Metohija on December 6.
Snap elections in Kosovo's Serbian enclaves have been postponed until April 2023.