Roberto Gualtieri said on Tuesday that the vote count for polling stations in the four municipalities in northern Kosovo and Metohija has not begun yet. Gualtieri is chief observer of the EU Election Observation Mission. The election materials are in Priština, and our job is to monitor and analyze the process. In relation to that, the Central Electoral Commission should assess the situation and deliver a decision, Gualtieri said at a press conference. The EU Election Observation Mission condemns the attacks on the three polling stations in northern Kosovska Mitrovica, Gualtieri said, underlining that the attempts at sabotage failed. The EU mission assessed positively the electoral process in Kosovo, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) offered key assistance to the process, despite great challenges, he said.
Gualtieri said that local elections stemmed from the EU-facilitated agreement that Belgrade and Pristina reached on April 19.
When asked about the role of Belgrade, Gualtieri said again this was the first time that local elections were held in the entire territory of Kosovo, and that a part of the agreement has been implemented.
However, he underscored that the trust in the veracity of electoral rolls was diminished.
Gualtieri said that the EU Election Observation Mission will also be in Kosovo during the run-off vote set for December 1, and that it will monitor the entire process, and publish a final report on elections at the beginning of 2014.
Full Article: B92 – News – Vote count for northern Kosovo yet to begin.
