The chairman of the Central Election Commission of Kosovo, Krešnik Radonići, said on Sunday that the initiative to replace the mayors of northern municipalities in Kosovo failed, because 50 percent plus one voter did not participate in the referendum.
According to him, a total of 253 people voted.
In Leposavic, 124 voters or 0,91 percent of the total number voted, in Zubin Potok 18 voters or 0,26 percent, in Zvečan there were no voters, while in North Mitrovica there were 111 voters or 0,59 percent of voters.
All polling stations, 23 of them, were closed on Sunday, April 21, at 19 p.m.
And the Network of Non-Governmental Organizations Democracy in Action previously announced that there was little interest in voting.
Ottomans: Pressure from Belgrade and the Serbian List
The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, assessed on Sunday, after the closing of the polling stations, that Kosovo "enabled the citizens in the municipalities in the north to remove the current mayors and elect new ones through the impeachment process".
"However, the citizens mostly did not take advantage of this opportunity. Unfortunately, this was primarily due to pressure from Belgrade by the Serbian List and illegal criminal structures. Serbia again illegally interfered in the election process of another country. Again Vučić (Aleksandar, President of Serbia) did not hold a word given to international partners," Osmani stated in a post on the Iks network.
She pointed out that Kosovo "once again showed maturity, exemplary organization and full respect for its laws and Constitution by offering all communities, without distinction, the opportunity to choose their representatives".
As she emphasized, Kosovo has fulfilled all the conditions required by the European Union (EU).
"The unjust measures against Kosovo must be abolished immediately," said the President of Kosovo.
The Prosecutor's Office supervised the referendum
The State Prosecutor's Office of Kosovo reported on Sunday that it monitored the course of the referendum.
Tomas Šunjog, the ambassador of the European Union in Kosovo, with 60 observers also followed the voting in the north of Kosovo, it was announced from the EU office in Pristina.
Early on Sunday, the Central Election Commission of Kosovo had to find alternative locations for polling stations, because educational institutions, which work in the Serbian system in four municipalities in the north of Kosovo, did not give permission to use their premises.
What next?
Since the vote on April 21 was unsuccessful, the mayors remain in power, and a new initiative to remove them can be launched in a year.
The majority Serb population in North Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zvečan and Zubin Potok do not accept Albanian mayors.
The Albanian mayors came to power because the Serbian List called on citizens to boycott the elections in April 2023, which were organized after the Serbs left the Kosovo institutions in November 2022 at the initiative of that party.
That party, meanwhile, requested new elections and supported the citizens' petition for the removal of the mayor, only to announce on April 7 that it would not participate in the vote for the removal of the mayor.
The vote on April 21 was organized on the basis of the Administrative Instruction issued by the Government of Kosovo after pressure from the international community to call for new elections in the municipalities in the north.
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