(ANSA-AFP) - PRISTINA, FEB 7 - Voters head to the polls in
Kosovo Sunday in a contest that pits combative Prime Minister
Albin Kurti's crusade to stamp out Serbian influence in the
north against a fractured opposition's pledge to boost the
economy. Kurti and his Vetevendosje ("Self-Determination") party
(VV) have boasted of bringing armed groups allegedly backed by
Belgrade to heel and expanding the writ of the government to
Serb majority areas in the restive north. Since taking office in
2021, his administration has overseen measures to dismantle a
parallel state backed by Serbia inside Kosovo. The moves have
largely been well received by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority
and may prove crucial to VV's success -- with one poll
projecting the party on course to capture roughly half of the
vote. Bitterness between Kosovo and Serbia has persisted since
the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in
the late 1990s. Belgrade refuses to acknowledge Kosovo's
declaration of independence in 2008. Since the war's end,
remnants of Serbian government institutions continued to provide
a range of services to ethnic Serbs inside Kosovo. But in the
past year, Kurti has looked to upend the status quo.
In ethnic Serb areas, the Belgrade-backed Serbian List has vowed
to protect the rights of Kosovo's shrinking Serb minority.
Polling stations open at 07:00 am (0600 GMT) Sunday and close 12
hours later, when exit polls are expected. (ANSA-AFP).
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