At the outset of local election campaign, the embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States called on all political parties and their candidates to commit to free, respectful, and peaceful campaigning.

Provincial Board of the Serbian Socialist Party (SPS) for Kosovo made the decision to run independently in the forthcoming local elections in Kosovo, scheduled for 22 October, SRNA news agency and Blic daily reported.

“We have decided to run independently in the forthcoming local election in all 10 Serb-majority municipalities, other municipalities where Serbs are living and where the Provincial Board has its network,” their press release stated.

President of Kosovo, Hashim Thaci, announced 22 October as the local elections date. Thaci took the decision after consultations with political parties and instructed the Central Election Commission to undertake all necessary actions to organise the electoral process.

At a meeting with Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, representatives of main political parties said 22 October is the optimal time for holding local elections.

Head of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Valdete Daka, said they are ready to organise elections whenever they are announced but noted it would be better to have them earlier on before the weather conditions worsen.

President Thaci said he would consider all proposals and announce the election date in the coming days.