BELGRADE, Serbia

Kosovo Serbs boycotted extraordinary local elections on Sunday in Serb-majority municipalities to choose new mayors.

Serbs, who constitute the majority in the region, boycotted the polls, which were held to remove the ethnic Albanian mayors in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo.

The Kosovo Central Election Commission (KQZ) announced that 253 people out of 46,556 registered voters in North Mitrovica, Zubin Potok, Leposavic and Zvecan, or 0.54%, had cast their ballots as of 7 p.m. local time.

Polling stations in the municipalities were open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (0500-1700GMT).

A total of 23 voting centers, including some containers in safe areas, were set up by the election commission.

Political parties belonging to Kosovo Serbs announced that they would boycott the elections.

Serb List, the largest Serbian party in Kosovo, announced that they were shunning the polls because the government of Kosovo added clauses to the election rules making it difficult for mayors to be dismissed through elections.

For mayors to be removed from office, 50% plus 1% of the voters of the municipality in question must vote in that direction.

The current mayors of Albanian origin in the region are expected to continue their duties until the end of 2025.

The Kosovo police, NATO's Peace Force in Kosovo (KFOR) and the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) took extensive security measures in the region to hold the elections.

After extraordinary local elections held on April 23, 2023 in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo (Zvecan, Zubin Potok, Leposavic and Northern Mitrovica) were boycotted by the majority Serbs, the candidates of the minority Albanian political parties won.

Kosovo Serbs organized demonstrations that lasted for weeks after the Albanian mayors took office.

Tensions arose between the Kosovo police, who were sent to the region to protect the Albanian mayors, and Kosovo Serbs, and on May 29, 2023, dozens of KFOR soldiers were injured as a result of a confrontation between KFOR soldiers protecting the municipal buildings and Serb protestors.

The European Union demanded that Kosovo hold new local elections in the region and then began to impose "punitive measures" on the country because it did not take steps to reduce tensions.

The Kosovo government had also announced that it had made the necessary legal regulations regarding the removal of mayors by collecting a certain percentage of signatures and then holding elections.

Kosovo Serbs gathered the required number of signatures in January to remove the mayors in the region, paving the way for elections.