The European Union urged the Kosovar government and ethnic Serbs to initiate a "serious dialogue" to return to state institutions after they boycotted municipal elections with the aim of pushing for more autonomy.
The boycott underlined that a Western-backed plan verbally agreed to by the Kosovo and Serbian governments in March was not working. It aimed to defuse tensions by granting local Serbs more autonomy with Pristina retaining ultimate authority.
"These elections do not offer a long-term political solution for these municipalities," EU foreign affairs spokesperson Peter Stano said on Monday, referring to a northern area of the 90% ethnic Albanian country where Serbs form a majority.
"There is an urgent need for a serious dialogue. It is imperative that we urgently restore a situation where Kosovo Serbs participate actively in local governance, policing and judiciary in the north of Kosovo," he said in a statement.
Stano said the bloc regrets that not all parties and communities exercised their democratic right to participate and vote in the elections.
''The very low turnout, in particular among Kosovo Serbs citizens, shows that this process is not and cannot be considered business as usual," Stano said.
"These elections do not offer a long-term political solution for these municipalities. This can only happen through a permanent return of Kosovo Serbs to the institutions, and for Kosovo to enable this return,'' he said.
The EU also urged the authorities to establish the Serb community in the north of Kosovo.
''The work on the establishment of the Association/Community of Serb majority Municipalities needs to be finalized as soon as possible... There is an urgent need for a serious dialogue between the Government of Kosovo and Kosovo Serbs in the north to this end. So far little progress has been made. Therefore, we need both sides to play their role and fulfill their commitments,'' Stano said.
Meanwhile, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said tectonic changes took place in Kosovo's local elections.
"This is a historic result because nothing similar has ever happened on European soil since the Second World War, for the turnout of a nation to be 0.029 percent,'' Vucic said at a news conference.
According to him, the Serbs demonstrated exceptional unity and discipline.
"The Serbs behaved not only nationally but also as a very strong people who know what pressures they are under, but a people who were ready to show enormous determination to oppose the Gauleiter in the most dignified way,'' he said.
Vucic added that the OSCE and the EU did not monitor the elections.
"They didn't have time to visit the polling stations from the EU Office and the Quinte (U.S., U.K., France, Germany and Italy) countries, I guess so they wouldn't see any irregularities," he said.
Vucic said he will “probably” take part in the next round of EU-mediated talks with Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, scheduled in Brussels on May 2, despite “expecting nothing” to come out of that meeting.
"I’m afraid that this is a prelude to a much deeper crisis,” Vucic said.
However, political analyst Dusan Janjic believes the elections are not legitimate.
"If the first Brussels Agreement was ratified as an international treaty, then they are problematic from the point of view of legality because the main goal of the election is the integration of Serbs and not Albanians," he told the Serbian Tanjug news agency.
Kosovo Serbs boycotted the extraordinary elections in four municipalities in the country's north on Sunday.
Voting ended with only a 3.47% turnout, according to the Kosovo Central Election Commission (KQZ).
The KQZ said 1,567 out of 45,095 registered voters in the region headed to the polls until 7:00 p.m. local time (1700 GMT).
A total of 11 candidates ran for mayor in North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposavic, and Zvecan, as well as 60 candidates for city councils in Zvecan and Leposavic.
Some 50,000 Serbs who live there have not recognized Kosovo state institutions since Pristina declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a decade after a guerrilla uprising, instead seeing Belgrade as their capital.
Kosovo’s election commission said the turnout in Sunday's local elections in the north was 3.47%. All four elected mayors were from ethnic Albanian political parties including two from the ruling Self-Determination Party of Prime Minister Albin Kurti. The only Serb candidate drew only five votes.
Serb officials in the north resigned collectively in November 2022 in protest at the Pristina government's plan to replace Serbian car number plates dating to the pre-independence era with number plates with those of Kosovo.
They are demanding the implementation of an association of semi-autonomous Kosovo Serbs municipalities that was agreed with European Union mediation a decade ago, before taking part in any election organized by Pristina.
Kurti accused the Serbian government of orchestrating "a threatening campaign" intimidating Serbs in the north who had been willing to vote.
Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani announced that the elections in the northern municipalities were postponed on April 23 due to the risky security situation.
Osmani's decision came after the withdrawal of Kosovo Serbs from central and local institutions in Kosovo.
The elections were previously scheduled for Dec. 18 last year.
However, during the election campaign, over 10 parked vehicles belonging to Serbs were set on fire by unknown persons or groups.
Earlier this month, a Serbian official accused Kosovo authorities of trying to incite Serbs in the country by shooting a member of the local community.
Petar Petkovic, the director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, told local media that Serbian national Milan Jovanovic was shot with a police firearm on the northern Leposavic-Mitrovica road.
Later Kosovo police announced the suspension of four officers suspected of involvement, including one who may have fired the shot.
The Kosovo Central Election Commission decided to reduce the number of polling stations from 44 to 19 for the elections.
Thirteen of the centers are alternative and would be set up in containers in safe areas.
Kosovo, primarily populated by ethnic Albanians, seceded from Serbia in 1999 and declared independence in 2008. Serbia has not recognized its independence and considers its former province to be part of its territory.
