Voters in Pristina say happy with Kosovo poll after opposition claim victory

Record ID: 1435464

  • Title: Voters in Pristina say happy with Kosovo poll after opposition claim victory
  • Date: 7th October 2019
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF PEOPLE WALKING ON STREET (SOUNDBITE) (Albanian) 60-YEAR-OLD BOOKSELLER, MIRSAD KRASNIQI, SAYING: "I am very happy. I hoped for big changes, not just me but also other people that I was talking with, we hoped for this change, which happened. The changes happened."
  • Embargoed: 21st October 2019 12:08
  • Keywords: Kosovo elections Balkans Serbia Ramush Haradinaj parliamentary poll
  • Location: PRISTINA, KOSOVO
  • City: PRISTINA, KOSOVO
  • Country: Kosovo
  • Topics: Government/Politics,Elections/Voting
  • Reuters ID: LVA003B03LPO9
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: People in Pristina said they were pleased about Kosovo's elections on Sunday (October 6) which saw two opposition parties set to come first and second
    According to preliminary results based on 82% of the votes counted, Vetevendosje (Self-determination) won 26% of the votes, while another opposition party - the center-right Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) - won 25%.
    Passers-by in the capital's centre said they were happy with the result and they were hoping for change. Several also said they were pleased at the way the elections had been conducted.
    During the campaign, LDK and Vetevendosje leaders said they would form a ruling coalition together.
    But to make it stable they will need either another party or support of minorities - Serbs, Turks, and Bosniaks - who together have 20 seats in the parliament.
    The election saw a 44.05% turnout and was overseen by more than 34,000 independent monitors, including 100 from the European Union.
    No major incidents were reported but police said they detained at least 20 people for photographing their ballots.
    Whoever ends up running Kosovo next will have to face the issue of ties with Serbia, from which it declared independence in 2008. Normalisation of ties between the two could help secure Pristina a seat in the United Nations.
    (Production: Bardh Krasniqi, Dominik Starosz)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2019. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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