Serbia appealed to the Serbs in its southern breakaway province of Kosovo on Thursday not to take part in the upcoming elections set for Nov. 17, news from Belgrade said.
"Even after eight years of UN mission in Kosovo, the elementary conditions for a safe and free life of Serbs and other minorities in the province have not been created," the Serbian government said in a statement.
Serbian President Boris Tadic made the same appeal on Wednesday during his visit to Lisbon, saying the elections were not " achieving standards in protecting Serbs and their rights."
Tadic said that the Serbs' rights were not respected, therefore, "I have no right to call them to take part, as I did several years ago."
Tadic and his Democratic Party were in opposition in 2004 when Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica, now in his second term, advised Kosovo Serbs against taking part in the elections.
However, a Kosovo Serb leader warned that a call for a boycott would be tantamount to a message to local Serbs living in isolated enclaves to leave for the relative security of northern Kosovo.
"It is a bad recommendation to the Serbs not to vote, because it is a message that they should pack and leave, even before the status of Kosovo is resolved," Oliver Ivanovic told Serbian Radio B92.
Serbs in Kosovo represent about 10 percent of the province's 2 million population, while the ethnic Albanian majority accounts for 90 percent.
Kosovo has been run by the UN for eight years since 1999. Serbia wants to keep it within its border but the ethnic Albanians ask for full independence.
A new round of talks over the final status of the province started last month, mediated by troika envoys from the EU, the United States and Russia. They are to report the progress of the talks to the UN Secretary General by Dec. 10.
Source: Xinhua
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