Military

DATE=10/23/2004

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=KOSOVO/ELECTIONS (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-319856

BYLINE=STEFAN BOS

DATELINE=BUDAPEST

CONTENT=

/// EDS: Polls close at 1800 UTC; Results not expected before Monday. ///

HEADLINE: Kosovo Elections Begin Amid Ethnic Tensions

INTRO: General elections are under way in the U.N.-administered province of Kosovo. Stefan Bos reports from Budapest, minority Serbs appear to be largely boycotting the vote.

TEXT: Despite appeals by international officials and Serb leaders, many of Kosovo's 100-thousand Serbs were expected to stay away from the polls, citing security concerns.

The election comes seven months after riots by ethnic Albanian mobs that left 19 people dead, and forced thousands of Serbs from their homes.

U.N. Spokesman Jeff Bieley says the international community has taken steps to ensure security.

/// 1ST ACT BIELEY ///

"We hope that Serbs will participate. We have made efforts to make sure that polling places will be secure for Serbs throughout Kosovo, and also there will be polling stations within Serbia proper and Montenegro."

/// END ACT ///

About one-point-three-million eligible voters are choosing a 120-seat assembly, which in turn will elect a president and a government that holds some authority. However, ultimate power over day-to-day decision-making will remain with the United Nations administration.

The international community has reserved 10 of the 120 assembly seats for Serbs.

U.N. Spokesman Bieley acknowledges that number is small, but says he believes minorities will have an important voice when internationally backed final status talks on the future of the province begin in 2005.

/// 2nd ACT BIELEY ///

"Today marks a turning point, back toward the future for Kosovo, toward the track that Kosovo needs to move forward on. The government that will be elected today will be in charge of, first of all, improving the situation for minorities, and meeting the standards the international community has set, so that, in the middle of next year, there could be a

positive evaluation of progress that would lead us to talks on final status."

/// END ACT ///

The province formally remains part of Serbia-and-Montenegro, but its final status is to be

decided through negotiations. Many of Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the population, favor independence. Minority Serbs want to remain part of Serbia.

Saturday's vote is Kosovo's second general election since it came under U.N. and NATO rule in 1999, after a NATO bombardment that forced former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic to withdraw his forces.

NEB/SB/TW