Kosovo Serbs launch petition to dismiss 4 Albanian mayors

BELGRADE, Serbia

Kosovo Serbs launched a petition Wednesday to dismiss four Albanian mayors in northern municipalities of Kosovo.

Thousands of local Serbs gathered at the sports hall in North Mitrovica to sign a petition to dismiss Mayor Erden Atiq.

Sanja Krtinic, one of the entrepreneurs of the process, told reporters that the mayor was illegally elected and did not represent the majority.

Atiq was elected after Serbs boycotted elections in 2023 along with three other mayors in four Serb municipalities.

A total of 3,640 signatures are required to initiate Atiq’s dismissal.

Also, the signing of the petition started Wednesday for the Leposavic municipality.

No information was given about the Zvecan and Zubin Potok municipalities.

The area has been the scene of unrest since last April, when ethnic Serbs boycotted elections, followed by protests against the election of ethnic Albanian mayors.

The Kosovo government issued an administrative order to allow the removal of municipal mayors from office through a petition process.

The Serb List -- a minority political party is leading the petition process.

The general rule is that 20% of voters in the municipalities in question must sign the petition for the removal of the mayor.

The petition will then be sent to the Central Election Commission, and after the petition is verified, the referendum process on the removal of the mayor, which will require a vote of 50% plus 1, can begin.

- Local elections in the north of Kosovo

The candidates for minority Albanian political parties won extraordinary local elections on April 23 in four municipalities in northern Kosovo – Zveçan, Zubin Potok, Leposavic and Northern Mitrovica -- after Serbs boycotted the elections.

Kosovo Serbs organized demonstrations that lasted weeks after Albanian mayors took office.

Tensions arose between Kosovo Serbs and Kosovo police who were sent to the region to protect Albanian mayors. On May 29, dozens of NATO's Kosovo Force (KFOR), the alliance-led peacekeeping mission soldiers, were injured as a result of the confrontation.

The European Union demanded that Kosovo hold new elections in the region, and began to impose "punitive measures" against the country on the grounds that it did not take steps to reduce tensions.

The Kosovo government also announced that it had made the necessary legal regulations regarding the dismissal of mayors by collecting a certain percentage of signatures.