Brussels, 10/06/2014 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 9 June, the European Union congratulated the Kosovan voters for their participation at the early legislative elections that took place the previous day. “These elections are a step forward in consolidation of Kosovo's democracy”, said the spokesperson for High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton in a press release.
Ashton's spokesperson stated that the EU Observation Mission (EOM) confirmed “that the elections took place in an orderly manner”. According to the EOM, the elections were transparent and well organised, and the election day was calm and without major incident - including in the North. Freedom of the media was generally respected, the EOM stated in its preliminary statement. While the candidates were able to conduct their campaigns freely, the tight election timetable affected certain aspects of the elections negatively, according to the EOM. On 6 June, the EU stated that it wanted to see free, fair and inclusive elections.
The EU is now “looking forward” to an early formation of the government that will take forward the work on all the key challenges - “including economic reforms, efforts to improve the rule of law as well as continuing with the implementation of the April 2013 Agreement, stemming from the dialogue on the normalisation of relations with Serbia”. Ashton's spokesperson stated that the EU remains fully committed to the European perspective of Kosovo and will continue to support Kosovo's efforts in this respect. The stabilisation and association agreement (SAA) is due to be signed this summer.
According to the official preliminary results, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) - the party of Kosovo's Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi - came out on top with 31.38% of the vote, ahead of the main opposition party (the LDK) which took 25.22% of the vote. In order to be able to govern, the PDK will have to form a coalition. Ten of the 120 seats in the Kosovan Parliament are reserved for Serbs. (CG)