KOSOVSKA MITROVICA - Marko Djuric, director of the Serbian government's Office for Kosovo-Metohija (KiM), has said that the fact that Serbs voted in the early parliamentary elections in KiM in large numbers, despite difficult conditions, demonstrates their responsibility toward their state.

At a news conference in Kosovska Mitrovica on Sunday evening, Djuric said that by casting their ballot in the elections, Serbs in KiM stood by their state, underscoring that now in the province we have a clearer picture and better situation when it comes to the future of the entire political process.

The director of the Office for KiM underlined that Sunday's elections opened up a clear and more secure perspective for the formation of a community of Serb municipalities (ZSO).

"Serbs of Kosovo-Metohija have today stood by their state and that is a significant indicator that we have reached a phase when through joint efforts and discipline, organization and commitment, we can fight for our goals, maybe in the way previously used by our opponents in this entire process we are in today," he said.

Djuric said that talks on contentious decisions by the Central Election Commission (CEC) will be open in the coming days, in relation to the distribution of seats.

"As we were saying even before the elections started, the fact that the rules were changed just several days before the polls is illustrative of the irresponsible approach that some of key political actors in Pristina took to this process," Djuric said.