Kosovo Vote Greeted Calmly in Serbia's South

20 11 2007 Bujanovac _ The results of last Saturday's Kosovo elections will have little impact on communities along the Serb-Kosovo boundary, politicians from Serbia's’s volatile south said Tuesday.

“The Kosovo vote has proved that the people there deserve to live in an independent state,” Skender Destani, head of the Presevo-based Democratic Union Valley party, told Balkan Insight.

“We should wait for the creation of a Kosovo government and then discuss the impact of the vote on Serbia’s south,” he added.

With some 90 percent of the ballots counted, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, led by former guerrilla commander Hashim Thaci, is leading the polls with 34 percent of the vote, followed by the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, with 22 percent, and the Alliance for a New Kosovo, AKR, led by businessman Behgjet Pacolli, with 12.1 percent.

Formerly part of Serbia, ethnic-Albanian dominated Kosovo has been an international protectorate since 1999. Its leaders are seeking outright independence from Serbia, which is offering broad autonomy.

Internationally brokered talks on the province’s long-term status are scheduled to conclude by December 10, when mediators from the United States, Russia and the European Union will submit a report on the issue to the United Nations.

Oliver Trajkovic, a local official of Serbian President Boris Tadic's Democratic Party, said Saturday's election results had had "no impact on Serbia’s south.” and that "nothing in particular" could be expected now.

Southern Serbia comprises three municipalities, Bujanovac, Presevo and Medvedja. The area saw an ethnic Albanian insurgency in 2000 that ended in a NATO-brokered peace deal a year later. Tensions continue and there are occasional flare-ups.

Dusan Spasovevic, the assistant Serbian Defense Minister responsible for the region, said that it was too early to discuss the effects of the Kosovo vote on Southern Serbia, but he did not rule out “chances of violence.”

“The security situation remains stable, but also complicated. Security forces are ready to react and prevent incidents,” he told Balkan Insight.

Most Albanians from Serbia’s south would prefer to see the area as a part of Kosovo, although a majority of local politicians participate in Serbia’s political life.

"We expect that (after the vote) Kosovo bodies will continue to protect the rights of Albanians in Serbia proper," said Shaip Kamberi of the Human Rights Board from the southern town of Bujanovac.