Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Kosovo lawmakers oppose Serb poll sites

- FLORENT BAJRAMI AND LLAZAR SEMINI

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Lawmakers in Kosovo approved a resolution Saturday in opposition to opening polling stations for Kosovo’s ethnic Serb minority to vote in a Serb referendum, saying such a move would violate the country’s constituti­on and laws.

The resolution in parliament, which was approved unanimousl­y by the 76 lawmakers present, asked the government “to undertake all the actions … not to allow the violation of the Republic of Kosovo’s sovereignt­y and constituti­onal order from holding of a referendum of a foreign country in the Republic of Kosovo’s territory.” The ethnic Serb minority’s Serb Lists party left the assembly hall before Saturday’s vote.

Serbia is holding a referendum today on amendments to boost the independen­ce of its judiciary as part of changes needed as the country tries to gain membership in the 27-nation European Union. Belgrade wants its ethnic Serb minority in Kosovo to participat­e.

But authoritie­s in Kosovo say ethnic Serbs may cast ballots only via mail or at a liaison office, ignoring past practices of setting up voting stations in Serb-dominated areas.

The resolution said Serbia is trying to exploit ethnic Serbs living in Kosovo “to serve its hostile policy against the Republic of Kosovo.”

Kosovo police said Saturday that they had blocked at the border the documents that Serbia had sent to enable Kosovo’s ethnic Serbs to take part in the referendum. A police statement said one car and two trucks were stopped Friday at the Merdare border crossing point. The trucks were confiscate­d, and six people in the vehicles were turned back.

A statement Friday from Kosovo’s top authoritie­s said the country’s laws “do not recognize the right of one state to hold a referendum in the sovereign territory of another state,” adding that “the practices applied so far since 2012 have been unconstitu­tional.”

Kosovo and Serbia have strained relations. Kosovo declared independen­ce from Serbia in 2008, a move that Belgrade has refused to recognize.

Serbia has insisted that Kosovo remains part of the country, despite the declaratio­n and a 1998-99 conflict that killed some 13,000 people and ended after NATO bombed Serbia to stop its crackdown on separatist ethnic Albanians.

Serbia has maintained a strong influence in the Serb-dominated areas of Kosovo, although it formally has no authority there.

The dispute between Serbia and Kosovo remains a cause of tensions in the Balkans.

EU-mediated negotiatio­ns aimed at normalizin­g relations between the two have produced little progress, although both Kosovo and Serbia have been told to resolve their difference­s in order to move forward in their bids to join the EU.

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