• Serbs in north of Kosovo boycott local snap elections (media)
• “Kosovo’s application for CoE membership on agenda for Monday” (media)
• Lajcak: Time of intense preparation for next high-level meeting (media)
• Escobar: We expect concrete proposal on Association from Kosovo (media)
• Kurti reacts to Serbian armed forces’ exercise in Batajnica (media)
• 25 years after Kosovo war, rape victims find the courage to heal (RFE)

Serbs in north of Kosovo boycott local snap elections (media)

The main story in the media on Sunday were the local snap elections in the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo. Reuters reported on Sunday that Serbs in the north boycotted the elections in protest that their demands for more autonomy have not been met, in another sign that a peace deal signed between Kosovo and Serbia last month is not working. The main political party in Serb-dominated northern Kosovo, Serbian List, called on Friday on the Serb community not to vote on Sunday.

"Except in some rare and very few cases, Serbs are boycotting the elections," an official from the central election commission, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters on Sunday.

Serbia and the Kosovo Serbs are demanding the creation of an association of Kosovo Serb municipalities, in line with a decade-old EU-brokered deal with the Kosovo government in Pristina, before they take part in the vote.

Fearing possible violence on Sunday, the central election commission abandoned plans to put voting booths in schools and instead set up mobile huts at 13 locations, while NATO troops from Latvia and Italy, part of a more than 3,000 strong peacekeeping force in Kosovo, patrolled roads in voting areas.

Prishtina Insight reported on Sunday that the two Kosovo-Albanian parties, the governing Vetevendosje and opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo, won the snap elections in the four municipalities in the north of Kosovo, amid a low number of votes and a boycott by Serbian List. According to the preliminary results published by the Central Election Commission, CEC, the ruling Lëvizja Vetëvendosje party has won the mayoral race in the mainly Serbian municipality of North Mitrovica with its candidate Erden Atiq, with 519 votes or 66.5 per cent of votes cast, and in Leposaviq, where its candidate, Lulzim Hetemi, polled 100 votes, or 73.5 per cent.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, won in Zvecan with its candidate Ilir Peci who got 114 votes or 60.0 per cent of votes cast and in Zubin Potok with Izmir Zeqiri who got 196 votes, or 52.1 per cent.

In North Mitrovica, Zvecan, Leposavic and Zubin Potok, extraordinary elections for mayors of municipalities and early elections for the two municipal assemblies Zvecan and Leposavic were held on Sunday.

But only 1,567 citizens, or about 3.47 per cent of registered voters, had voted by 7pm on Sunday in the Serb-dominated north, according to the CEC. Some 45,095 citizens had the right to vote in the four municipalities.

Through the day, 837 voters, or 4.62 per cent of the population of North Mitrovica municipality voted, 141 voters or 1.06 per cent voted in the municipality of Leposavic, 385 voters or 5.78 per cent voted in Zubin Potok, and 204 voters or 2.92 per cent voted in Zvecan.

The Chairman of the CEC, Kreshnik Radoniqi, said: “The CEC has provided the opportunity and conditions for all citizens with the right to vote in these municipalities to use their constitutional right to elect their representatives and democratic institutions”.

At a press conference held after the voting centres closed, Radoniqi also thanked the security institutions for the smooth running of the process.

The NGO Democracy in Action, DIA, which monitored the elections in the north, said the security of the electoral process was guaranteed by the police, which had a presence near all the voting centres. “The electoral process was concluded without any incident or threat to the integrity of the electoral process,” DIA added. But the DIA also said the withdrawal of Serbian candidates from the elections in the four northern municipalities resulted in a boycott by Serbian voters.

Serbian List, the largest party of the Serbian community in Kosovo, supported by Belgrade, did not participate. On Sunday, the chairman of the party, Goran Rakic, urged Serbs in the north to boycott the election. “Because of every Serb unjustly arrested, because of every lie told by Kurti [PM Albin Kurti], because of every bullet fired at Serbian children, because of the daily repercussion that the Serbian people suffer, because of the incessant mistreatment of Serbs by special forces in the north, because of the fear among Serbs that Kurti's policy inspires, because of every damaged Serbian holy object and every ruined monument, because of non-implementation of all signed agreements!!! Boycott of illegitimate and illegal elections!!!" he wrote on Facebook.

Kosovo authorities installed containers in four Serb-dominated northern municipalities to be used as polling stations on Sunday.

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Kosovo’s Minister of Interior Affairs, Xhelal Svecla, told KTV on Sunday that in terms of security, the elections were successful as there were no incidents or problems. “But from the political aspect, it is a very bad thing that our citizens of Serbian nationality, as a result of extreme pressure from Belgrade and its criminal structures, did not take part in the process. Most of them did not take part. However, from a legal standpoint, the elections were successful, and the result of these elections will be institutions and officials that will serve the citizens of Kosovo,” Svecla said. In another interview, to RFE, Svecla said that the newly elected mayors will work normally in the facilities of Kosovo. “All facilities of the administration of the Republic of Kosovo are under the ownership of the state. These facilities are not anyone’s property and are not subjected to anyone’s desires. The mayors will work normally inside these premises,” he said.

The U.S. Embassy in Pristina issued a press release on Sunday saying that the elections in the north were consistent with Kosovo’s constitutional and legal requirements. The statement notes: “We support a diverse, inclusive, multi-ethnic democracy in Kosovo and the elections that underpin it. We regret that not all parties made use of their democratic right to participate in today’s elections. Electoral participation helps ensure leaders are representative of the populations they serve. Voting is a critical freedom of democratic societies. We recognize Kosovan election officials’ efforts to make polling places available to citizens wishing to exercise their right to vote, while minimizing potential points of tension. We likewise express our appreciation for the professionalism of the Kosovo Police, EU Rule of Law Mission (EULEX), and KFOR in ensuring a secure environment for the elections. We will continue to engage with all relevant parties on next steps. We also reiterate the importance of and our commitment to the full implementation of the Ohrid agreement.”

French Ambassador to Kosovo, Olivier Guerot, said in a Twitter post that “the elections with so few voters don’t contribute to a political solution. We regret that some parties did not participate. On a positive note: the professionalism of Kosovo Police and Kfor/Eulex. It is now time to implement the Ohrid agreement.”

Several news websites report that deputy leader of the Serbian List, Milan Radoicic, who is also sanctioned by the United States, said on Sunday that the Serbian people will never allow to be led by Albanians. “Serbs will not allow to be led by those who think that with one or two percent of votes they can lead in the north,” Radoicic argued.

“Kosovo’s application for CoE membership on agenda for Monday” (media)

Advisor to Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, Rejhan Vuniqi, said in a Twitter post on Sunday that “Kosovo's application for Council of Europe membership is on the agenda for Monday's Committee of Ministers meeting. Let's hope for positive developments in this important step towards European integration.”

Lajcak: Time of intense preparation for next high-level meeting (media)

EU Special Representative for the dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, Miroslav Lajcak, said in a Facebook post on Sunday that “with the next High-level Dialogue Meeting coming up on 2 May, this is a time of intense preparation”. “As the first High-level Meeting post-Ohrid, it will be an important one for the implementation of the Agreement and its Annex. The agenda will include the formal endorsement of the Declaration on Missing Persons, the presentation of the first draft Statute of the Association/Community of Serb majority municipalities in Kosovo by the Management team, and pressing current issues. We therefore expect that both Parties will come to Brussels well-prepared and fully committed to the implementation phase,” Lajcak wrote.

Escobar: We expect concrete proposal on Association from Kosovo (media)

U.S. Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Gabriel Escobar, said in an interview with Voice of America that he expects a proposal for the Association of Serb-majority municipalities from Kosovo when leaders will meet in Brussels on May 2. “I hope that by May 2 there will be a concrete proposal,” he said.

Escobar also said that there has been progress on the issue and an exceptional evolution by the Kosovo government and especially the Prime Minister to accept this legal obligation. “It is an existing obligation based on the Brussels agreement and it was very difficult for this government and party to accept this as binding. But now they see it as an obligation, they have agreed to it and have said publicly what should be the framework and the parameters of the Association. And we agree with these parameters,” he added.

Kurti reacts to Serbian armed forces’ exercise in Batajnica (media)

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti in a Twitter post on Saturday reacted to a military exercise by Serbian armed forces in Batajnica. “In a mass grave in Batajnica, the bodies of 744 Kosova Albanians were hidden, incl. 46 members of the Berisha family. Instead of a memorial to war victims, Serbia is holding military exercises there for "Armed Forces Day". Bodies can be hidden, but the truth cannot be buried,” Kurti tweeted.

25 years after Kosovo war, rape victims find the courage to heal (RFE)

What dreams Yllka still clung to in 1999 were dashed when Serbian forces came to her home in Kosovo and raped her.

"I had everything in front of me, but the war destroyed me," Yllka tells RFE/RL's Balkan Service, her voice quiet, her speech hesitant.

Then just 17 years old, she was one of thousands of women in Kosovo reported to have been raped by Serbian forces, who, according to Human Rights Watch, used sexual violence as a tool of "ethnic cleansing."

Today, 25 years after the conflict erupted, the victims of rape are still struggling to cope in Kosovo, a traditionally conservative society. Many still feel the stigma of shame and are hesitant to speak out or ask for help.

The Kosovar authorities have taken steps in the right direction. In 2014, Kosovo passed a law recognizing the victims of wartime sexual violence, enabling them to receive a pension of about 230 euros ($252) per month.

And for the first time ever, on April 14, Kosovo marked a newly designated Day of Survivors of Sexual Violence to, as the authorities put it, "recognize the pain" of the victims from the 1998-1999 war.

Most of the war crimes -- including rapes -- happened between March and June 1999, as Serbian forces terrorized the ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo. In March 1999, after internationally brokered peace talks collapsed, NATO launched air strikes against Yugoslavia that lasted 78 days before Belgrade yielded.

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