TIRANA, December 10 – The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani announced on Saturday that a decision was made to postpone the elections in four municipalities in the northern areas of the country and they will be held on April 23 next year.
“We discussed the most appropriate date and time and we reached a consensus after my proposal that elections should be postponed to April 2023,” declared Osmani.
The decision was taken after the meeting of the president, Osmani, with Prime Minister Albin Kurti and the two opposition parties, PDK and LDK.
Osmani stated in a press conference that there was a complete consensus between the political parties on that decision and that the report sent to the Presidency by the Central Election Commission on Friday was taken into account.
“In order to ensure the greatest possible participation of citizens in these elections, observation by local and international institutions, security for all citizens without distinction, as well as sufficient time for security institutions to make efforts and take additional actions for law and order in the north of the country, I believe that the postponement is necessary,” said Osmani.
Elections in the north were scheduled to be held on December 18 this year after the resignation of the mayors of the northern municipalities a month ago. But due to the tense situation, the US and other international factors had persistently requested that the elections be postponed to another date against the background of a rising pressure by Serbia which has massively deployed military troops along the borders with Kosovo. So far the ‘weapon’ of pressure has worked in favor of Belgrade as internationals exert hard pressure on Kosovo leadership to withdraw from actions which do not please Serbs. /Argumentum.al
