ELECTIONS in Kosovo have been overshadowed by a massive boycott of the poll by Serbs. With preliminary results expected today, it appears that fewer than 1 per cent of Serbs entitled to vote actually did so, raising questions over the legitimacy of the new Kosovo Assembly.

The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), the ethnic Albanian party of President Rugova, is expected to remain the province’s largest party, but, with no group gaining an overall majority, a coalition government will be formed.

Rada Trajkovic, President of the Serb National Council of Kosovo, who had helped to run the no-vote campaign, said: “We need to send a message to the international community that the Serb national question in Kosovo is not resolved.

“The current institutions do not have the mechanisms to stop bad things happening to our people. We do not want to legitimise whatever decisions are taken by the international community and the Albanian leadership,” she said.

Vojislav Kostunica, Serbia’s Prime Minister, who had urged the boycott, said: “The elections have been a failure from the point of view of the maintenance of the multiethnic character of Kosovo. The Serbs have sent a unanimous message, which is the result of their intolerable living conditions.”

Søren Jessen-Petersen, the head of the United Nations Mission in Kosovo, said that he was “disappointed” by the boycott, but he understood why it had happened. “They have legitimate concerns, in terms of freedom of movement, security and their desire for decentralisation,” he said.

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