Serb minorities went to polls in Kosovo on Sunday for the crucial Serbian parliamentary and local elections, despite opposition from international and local authorities in Pristina.
Serb election officials said voting material is distributed in all predicted polling stations and the voting is running normally.
More than 115,000 citizens are registered to vote in 279 polling stations in Kosovo for the Serbian Parliament and 23 out of 30 municipalities in Kosovo.
Kosovo Police Service (KPS) said Sunday the overall situation appears to be calm in Kosovo with neutral KPS stance on elections.
"We are not securing poling stations, assisting elections, nor preventing people to vote," said KPS spokesman Veton Elshani.
Head of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), Joachim Rucker, had stressed that the results of the municipal elections will be null and void, no matter how many people participate.
In the past, UNMIK has allowed Kosovo Serbs to vote in Serbia's parliamentary and presidential elections but local elections are seen as undermining international authorities because they deal directly with Kosovo's internal municipal arrangements.
Serbian political parties were free to hold election campaigns in Serb-dominated areas in Kosovo.
Sunday's elections are seen in Kosovo as a serious challenge to the UN Resolution 1244, Ahtisaari's Status Proposal Settlement and Kosovo's Constitution adopted in April due to come in force in mid-June.
Source:Xinhua
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