Serbs reject Kosovo government

Serbians living in northern Kosovo voted nearly unanimously to reject the Albanian-run Kosovo government. In two days of an unofficial referendum, B92 reported, 99.74 percent of those who voted answered "No" to the question, "Do you accept the institutions of the so-called Republic of Kosovo?" Turnout was about 75 percent. The vote has no binding authority and the government of Serbia had urged locals to abandon the referendum, Balkan Insight reported. The predominantly Serbian population in northern Kosovo has repeatedly rejected the Pristina government's authority and Kosovo's 2008 proclamation of independence. The mayor of the Serb-run northern half of the town of Mitrovica, Krstimir Pantic, said the international community must consider the view of Serbs in north Kosovo. "We expect less pressure to be exerted on northern Kosovo by the international community, and for the international community to start changing its approach to solving our many problems," Pantic said. But the United Nations Mission in Kosovo has warned the referendum has no validity or legal consequences. Borislav Stefanovic, Serbia's chief negotiator in Kosovo talks, has called the referendum "completely unnecessary and meaningless."