Minister "confident" elections won't slow down Kosovo talks

Minister "confident" elections won't slow down Kosovo talks

“I do not believe that the elections in Kosovo could in any way jeopardize the pace and quality of the dialogue,” Joksimović said, adding that she expects that the post-election dialogue with Priština will be "further strengthened."

She said that she expects that the government in Priština "will recognize the importance of pushing the dialogue further, just like the Serbian government has done, as this is the only way to resolve all open issues in a constructive manner."

Earlier on Thursday, it was announced that the Kosovo Central Electoral Commission decided that the campaign should begin on May 28 and end on June 8.

Due to the short deadline, the campaign will last ten days, the commission's president Valdete Daka, explained.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Citizens Initiative Srpska - a political organizations of Serbs in Kosovo said that a decision on the list's participation in elections would be made i the next few days, and stated that "30 days is a short deadline for the preparation of elections in the best possible way."

"Since the date of the elections has been released only on Thursday, the decision on potential participation and its modes will be adopted in the list's higher bodies in the next few days,” Vladeta Kostić told Tanjug.

The Serb list also called on the EU and the international community to strengthen its monitoring, "having in mind the situation from the previous polls held in 2010."

Most Serbs boycotted the first parliamentary elections held on December 12, 2010, three years after ethnic Albanians unilaterally declared independence of the southern Serbian province where the UN interim administration was established in 1999.

After the results were released, a number of complaints were filed concerning the frauds in the electoral process.