Belgrade based news agency Beta reported that the new academic year started on Tuesday on all ten faculties of the former Pristina University, relocated in the north Mitrovica with over 1,100 Serb freshmen financed by Belgrade, the Beta news agency reported.

Serbia’s Ministry of Education has declared the 2019-2020 academic year as the year of free entry, which means that the education of all those entitled to enroll will be paid for from Serbia’s budget.

The agency commented that the move came ahead of Kosovo's early general elections due on Sunday in which the Serbian List, backed by Belgrade, is seen as a winner in Kosovo's north populated mostly by the Serbs.

The University, which moved its seat to Northern Mitrovica in 1999 following the conflict in Kosovo, said it recorded some ten percent more new students in 2019 compared to the last academic year.