Kosovo Local Election Sends Ruling Party a Warning Shot

Extraordinary local elections held in the municipalities of Podujeve/ Podujeva and North Mitrovica are seen as sending two signals; in one, they confirmed the growing popularity of Kosovo's biggest opposition party, Vetevendosje - and, in the other, Belgrade's continued influence in the Serb-majority north.

The two municipalities held extraordinary elections on Sunday after their previous mayors took up central government positions.

Agim Veliu, former mayor of Podujeve/ Podujevo, from the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, who has become Interior Minister, will be succeeded by Shpejtim Bulliqi of the Vetevendosje Movement, after he won 51.64 per cent of the votes cast.

The Vetevendosje win was a political shock as Podujeve/ Podujevo was considered a bastion of the LDK, which has governed the area for 20 years. The change, therefore, sends an important signal to parties at the central level, the LDK above all, experts told BIRN.

Allen Meta, from Democracy for Development, D4D, an NGO, told BIRN that the election results measured citizens' current support for the main political parties, as the three candidates for mayor in Podujeve/ Podujevo came from the three biggest parties in the country, the LDK, Vetevendosje, and the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK,

Taulant Hoxha, director of the Kosovo Civil Society Foundation, KCSF, another NGO, agreed.

He told BIRN that the result was significant as these were "the first elections since all the developments of this spring", referencing the overthrow of the Vetevendosje-led government by a no-confidence motion in March, instigated by its partner, the LDK, which then formed a new government without holding new elections.

The result in Podujeve/ Podujevo was "more a loss for the...