Pristina

BRUSSELS - Director of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) Marko Djuric stated in Brussels on Monday that Belgrade will continue protecting the rights of Serbs in KiM despite the moves of the Pristina government.

PRISTINA - Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo Jean-Claude Schlumberger and OSCE Representative for Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic opened in Pristina on Friday the regional conference on the ways to respond to instances of hate speech without violating the freedom of expression.

“The MFA commends the fact that for the first time, all the people of Kosovo took part in the voting, and that the all-inclusive nature of these elections was important for the development of democracy, the future of the country, and crucial to the future of Kosovo's Euro-Atlantic integration,” the foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday.

BELGRADE - Chairman of the Serbian parliament’s Committee on Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) Milovan Drecun said Monday that the results of the elections for the Kosovo assembly showed that the Albanians in Kosovo were aware that their future largely depended on normalization of relations with Belgrade.

Thaci said after polls closed that his Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, had won the elections, although the Central Election Commission reported a turnout of only 43.2 per cent.

“As of tomorrow morning we will continue to fulfil our duties. As of tomorrow we will start to implement our ‘New Mission’,” former Kosovo Liberation Army leader Thaci said in a speech on Sunday night.

An explosion at a coal-fired power plant near Kosovo's capital Pristina has left 3 people dead, according to media reports.

The blast took place at Kosovo's second largest power plant, some 10km away from the capital, the BBC reported.

Video images showed thick smoke rising from the site and ambulances rushing to the scene. According to unconfirmed reports, 3 people have died.

PRISTINA - A gas explosion rocked the thermal power plant "Kosovo A" in Obilic, central Kosovo-Metohija (KiM), and left four workers dead and 13 injured on Friday, local media reported citing sources from the police and hospital in Pristina.

The police confirmed that four workers died, and noted that another blast is expected, and that all measures for evacuation were taken.

Office head: Serbs to "cross out" Kosovo "drawing"

BELGRADE -- Elections in Kosovo are "a job of national importance for Serbia and an important form of political struggle," says Office for Kosovo Director Marko Đurić.

BELGRADE - Dusan Janjic, director of the forum for ethnic relations, has said on Friday that the Serb voter turnout in the early parliamentary elections in Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) will not be high due to a short time frame and a boycott of the campaign in the north of Kosovo.

Government calls on Serbs to participate in elections

BELGRADE -- "All citizens of Kosovo and Metohija" have been urged "to take part in parliamentary elections for provisional institutions of self-government in the province."

The appeal came on Thursday from the Serbian government, and concerns elections to be held in Kosovo on Sunday, June 8.