Brussels / Pristina / Belgrade, 30/10/2000 (Agence Europe) - The High Representative for Cfsp, Javier Solana, welcomed the way the municipal elections in Kosovo on 28 October had gone with the following statement: "Yesterday was a historic day for democracy in Kosovo. I am deeply impressed by the serene and peaceful atmosphere in which the municipal elections have taken place and by the calm, dignified and enthusiastic manner in which the Kosovars voted in these first free and democratic elections. The high turnout and the absence of violent incidents clearly illustrate that the people of Kosovo are committed to a democratic future. The high level of political maturity augurs well for the implementation of the results of the vote. I call on all Kosovo political leaders to respect the results of the vote and thus to ensure the continued success of democracy in Kosovo.
As for the Observer Mission of the Elections of the Council of Europe, it stated on Sunday that the elections seemed to have been held in accordance with international standards of democracy (its final report will be published next week: Ed.). Stressing the high turnout, the Mission considers that this election "was the victim of its own success", as electors were forced to wait for two or three hours, and some balloting centres remained open until midnight to let them vote. Among the problems, the Mission notes the poor organisation of identity controls, but stresses that only 1% of its observers had noted "manoeuvres of intimidation".
The some 100,000 Serbs of Kosovo boycotted the elections, of which the interim Serb Government said in a statement that they were "mono-ethnic and in violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244".
At a press conference, the leader of the Kosovo Democratic Party, Hashim Thaci implicitly recognised his defeat, undertaking to respect the outcome of the elections, but the head of the electoral commission of his party accused the Democratic League of Ibrahim Rugova, winner in the elections, of "manipulations".