Serbian PM Mulls Kosovo Visit amid Election Uncertainty

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic is expected to travel to northern Kosovo on Wednesday, where he will visit the Trepca mining complex and meet workers and citizens, before holding an election rally in the town of Leposavic.

Vucic told TV Pink on Monday evening that he was planning to visit Kosovo without his ministers, but after media reported that Pristina is conditioning approving his visit, he announced that he was not sure whether he would travel or not.

Vucic is supposed to visit Serb-run municipalities, despite a lack of available information on whether Serbian presidential elections - scheduled for April 2 - will be held in Kosovo and in what form.

Senad Sabovic, spokesman for the OSCE mission in Kosovo, which has so far been in charge of Serbian elections, told BIRN that election consultations are still underway.

"We had ongoing contact with relevant actors in both Pristina and in Belgrade. As soon as we clarify all the details we will inform the public. We hope that this will happen in the coming days," Sabovic said.

"The OSCE is ready with the technical side of implementing the process by which votes are collected in Kosovo," Sabovic added.

The Republic Electoral Commission of Serbia (RIK) previously said that voting in the upcoming presidential election should take place at 90 polling stations across Kosovo.

RIK stated that the ballot boxes would then be taken - as was the case in the 2012, 2014 and 2016 elections - to the Serbian town of Raska for counting. The announcement was made despite the Constitutional Court ruling in June last year that any counting of votes outside Kosovo is unlawful.

Both local politicians and citizens have expressed hopes that Belgrade and Pristina will come to an...