Belgrade calls on Kosovo Serbs to vote in November elections

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has called on Kosovo Serbs to adopt a decision on voting in the Kosovo elections on November 3 – and said Belgrade will not support a boycott of the polls.

“Time is passing and everything we do not do today will only be something we dream about tomorrow,” Nikolic told Kosovo Serb representatives in a meeting on Wednesday.

The President pledged that Serbia will never abandon the Kosovo Serbs. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 – a move Belgrade strongly opposes.

The last local elections in Kosovo were held in November 2009, but the vote was boycotted in the northern Serb-run municipalities, where local leaders were elected in a separate vote organised by Belgrade.