Vetevendosje party

Kosovo police arrested three Vetevenedosje MPs, Albin Kurti, former leader of Vetevendosje, Albulena Haxhiu and Donika Kadaj Bujupi, at around 10am on Friday in Pristina while they were going to parliament to attend a session.

Preliminary results from Kosovo's Central Election Commission, CEC, held good news for the opposition Vetevendosje party and the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK - and for the governing Alliance of the Future of Kosovo, AAK. It was bad night for the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK.

Less than three weeks before polling day in the local elections in Kosovo on October 22, the race is hotting up in the capital, Pristina, where eight candidates are running for the position of mayor.

Voters say their expectations are linked more to basic needs that directly affect their daily lives than political party progammes.

Despite the visit to Montenegro of Kosovo's new Foreign Minister, Behgjet Pacolli, on Tuesday, the deadlock between the two countries over their border demarcation agreement - which Kosovo MPs still have not ratified - remains unresolved.

After winning nine seats in parliament in Kosovo in the recent general election, Lista Srpska, the main coalition representing the Serbian community, has yet to decide which party or coalition to support in forming the new goverment.

Kosovo's opposition Vetevendosje party may prove a strong contender in the municipal elections set for October 22, after the general elections this June showed a surprising spike in its popularity.

Who will form the new government in Kosovo remains unclear, after the results of the 11 June elections failed to grant immediate power to any one political entity or coalition.

The results of elections in Kosovo evidence the radicalization of political authorities in Pristina, largely as consequence of silent agreement of the European Union and the United States, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

A draft law to recriminalise defamation, proposed earlier this year and strongly opposed by journalists and civil society groups, has divided candidates from the coalition between the Kosovo Democratic Party, PDK, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK and the Initiative for Kosovo, NISMA, which are running together in the June 11 polls.

Kosovo's ruling parties have been accused of trying to secure much more than their fair share of media coverage in the general election.