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General elections in Kosovo to be held on November 17

01 September 2007 13:08 (UTC +04:00)

The U.N. mission in Kosovo announced Friday that general elections will be held in the Serbian province Nov. 17, shortly before international envoys report on efforts to resolve the dispute between ethnic Albanians and Serbs over the territory’s future.
Serbia’s government warned it would retaliate if Kosovo’s Albanian majority declared independence and other nations recognized the breakaway province as a separate state.
The U.N. administrator Joachim Ruecker said the date could be changed if the election process interfered with the diplomatic effort to reach an accord between Albanians and Serbs by Dec. 10.
â€œIt is crucial that democracy runs its course, notwithstanding the paramount importance of concluding the status process,â€ Ruecker said.
About 90 percent of Kosovo’s 2 million people are ethnic Albanians, and separatists have said they could declare independence if the negotiations do not produce a deal for Kosovo’s statehood.
The United States has hinted it would recognize Kosovo’s statehood even without the United Nations approval, but EU nations are split over the issue./APA/