Interim Kosovo Assembly calls for boycott of elections

“We are a pillar of the defense of our country,” President of the provisional assembly Slavko Stevanovic has said at a press conference in Belgrade. He said that the local elections were called by the unrecognized state of Kosovo and are “unconstitutional and illegal, pushing the Serbian people into a Greater Albania.” Asked what he thinks about Serbian Patriarch Irinej calling on the people to vote in the elections, Stevanovic said that he sent the patriarch a letter wishing the patriarch to tell what he said precisely but has still got no answer, adding that he does not want to see relations with the Serbian Orthodox Church deteriorate. Dusan Celic of the legal and political council of the Interim Assembly said that he received a letter with symbols of the so-called Republic of Kosovo telling him that he has the right of appeal over his application to vote not being accepted, although he had not even submitted such a request. “The question is who filled out my personal data without my knowledge,” said Celic, who has a displaced person status, stressing that he expects the Ombudsman and the commissioner for information of public importance and personal data protection to react. The Interim Kosovo Assembly was formed at a meeting in the Zvecan municipality in July, despite opposition by the government in Belgrade. It is made up of councilors from four Serb-majority municipalities in northern Kosovo. The Inaugural Assembly was attended by 97 of a total of 119 members, and Slavko Stevanovic was elected as president.