President Hashim Thaci called for early elections in Kosovo’s most tense area, four northern municipalities with Serb majorities whose leadership quit last year during a diplomatic clash between the Balkan neighbors.
At odds with the central, mostly ethnic Albanian government, the officials from the northern districts resigned after Pristina imposed a 100 percent tariff on Serbian goods. The penalties were a retaliation for Serbia’s efforts to block Kosovo’s inclusion in Interpol, the international police agency.
Thaci set the vote for May 19, an act that may fuel tension in a region still simmering with ethnic animosity from a war that ended with the NATO-led bombing of Serb forces two decades ago. It comes as Kosovo and Serbia try to find a way to mend ties in European Union-mediated talks that have included controversial proposals for both sides to redraw their borders.
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