Kosovo votes amid tensions with allies, Serbia

PRISTINA: Voters began casting ballots in Kosovo elections on Sunday in a contest that pits combative incumbent Prime Minister Albin Kurti´s quest to stamp out Serbian influence against a fractured opposition´s vow to boost the economy.

Kurti and his Vetevendosje (“Self-Determination”) party (VV) have campaigned on their efforts to dismantle the remaining Serbian institutions in Kosovo while expanding the government´s reach to Serb-majority areas.

Those pledges appear to have been well received by large swaths of Kosovo´s ethnic Albanian majority, with one of the few available polls projecting that VV was on course to capture roughly half of the vote.

Kurti´s campaign has sought to drive home the message, insisting the government is in greater control of Kosovo´s territory than at any other time since independence. “I thank all the citizens of Kosovo who voted so far and encourage everybody to vote. Exercise your democratic right to make your voice heard,” said Kurti as voting got under way across Kosovo.

Animosity between Kosovo and Serbia has persisted since the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in the late 1990s. Serbia has steadfastly refused to acknowledge Kosovo´s declaration of independence in 2008. Since the war´s end, remnants of Serbian government institutions continued to provide services -- ranging from health care to education -- to Serbs inside Kosovo.