Serbs Approve New Constitution Claiming Hold on Kosovo
30 October 2006
Serbian voters have approved a new constitution declaring the disputed province of Kosovo an "integral part" of Serbia.
Authorities say about 51 percent of Serbia's registered voters approved the referendum Sunday after two days of voting that Council of Europe observers said was in large part peaceful and orderly.
But an organization statement noted that the politically-motivated decision to hold a quick vote did not allow parties to conduct a proper awareness-raising campaign that would have enabled substantive public debate. It also noted a lack of training for electoral officials, inadequate seals on ballot boxes, and problems with voting lists and polling booths that could have compromised voting secrecy.
President Boris Tadic called the vote a historic decision. He says the new constitution is a break from the late autocratic President Slobodan Milosevic and will help revive membership talks with the European Union.
Kosovo's huge ethnic Albanian majority, which is demanding independence from Serbia, was not allowed to vote. But ethnic Albanian leaders say the new constitution will not stop their independence efforts.
The United States and other Western governments say the issue can only be decided in United Nations mediated talks between the Serbian government and ethnic Albanian officials. The talks have made little progress.
Kosovo has been under U.N. administration since 1999 when NATO airstrikes halted Serbia's crackdown on ethnic Albanian civilians.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
