Serb candidate wins north Kosovo town mayoral race

The candidate of Srpska Initiative, Goran Rakic, claimed victory on Sunday's repeated mayoral elections in Serb-dominated town of Mitrovica in Kosovo north. According to preliminary results, Rakic won 52.6 percent of the total votes. In his first address after declaring victory, Rakic said one of his first tasks in mayor capacity is to request the release of all Kosovo Serbs arrested by local and international security institutions in Kosovo. Oliver Ivanovi, a political leader from the north of Kosovo, was one of the three opponents to Rakic on Sunday's mayoral elections, and got around 28 percent of the total votes. Two remaining candidates, both from Albanian camp, got together around 19 percent of the total votes. "Central Election Commission (CEC)" and the NATO-led peacekeeping mission said the election process was calm, and no incident occurred on the Election Day. CEC announced however a low turnout in the elections, with only about 20 percent of the total eligible voters casting their votes.