Chief of the EU Election Observation Mission, Alojz Peterle, said in a press conference today that Sunday’s local elections in Kosovo took place in a peaceful atmosphere and were free of major incidents. Some of the recurring problems however include outdated voters’ lists which continue to have names of deceased people. “I would like to underline that what needs to be done is not so as to please Brussels but to improve quality of democracy in Kosovo,” Peterle said. Speaking about election day, Peterle said many political parties violated election silence during their press briefings while the media, in their coverage, featured programmes sponsored by political parties.

The EU chief observer further noted cases of voter intimidation in areas with Serb majority in the north and stressed that this was not in line with democratic standards.

Despite identified shortcomings, these local elections were better organised than the last ones in 2013, Peterle said.