PRISTINA — Kosovo's prime minister claimed victory on Monday in the first local elections since the territory seceded from Serbia, hailing the polls a success after some minority Serbs ignored a boycott.
Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said citizens were "celebrating because the state of Kosovo has passed the test of democracy."
"We all have risen above party and ethnic flags, uniting around the flag of Kosovo state in order to win, and we have won," Thaci told his supporters gathered at the seat of his Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).
Thaci said his PDK won control of 20 out of 36 municipalities, although the electoral commission is yet to announce full results in the polls.
And European observers who monitored the Sunday polls said the vote had met "many" international standards.
"The municipal and mayoral elections in the Republic of Kosovo met many of the international standards for elections," Darko Aleksov, head of the observer mission, told reporters.
But the mission noted that "a complex political situation resulted in the inability of a portion of the electorate to exercise its right to vote in some areas."
EU Special Representative Pieter Feith also praised the "overall smooth conduct of local elections", saying they had helped Kosovo "in its transition towards a multi-ethnic society."
The polls for municipal councils and mayors attracted 45 percent of 1.5 million eligible voters as Kosovo sought to show it could organise free, fair and peaceful elections after it declared its independence in February 2008.
Belgrade had called on Serbs to boycott the polls, but some cast ballots in parts of Kosovo. Serbia refuses to recognise the independence of Kosovo, where 90 percent of its population is ethnic Albanian.
Preliminary results began to come through late Monday.
Electoral officials said Serbs won mayoral posts in three municipalities in central Kosovo, where they make up the majority of population.
But due to a boycott by many Serbs in northern Kosovo, they lost control in three local councils.
Some Serbs in the area have cut ties with Pristina and are backed by Belgrade.
Serbia's Minister for Kosovo Goran Bogdanovic downplayed the impact of Serb votes, saying those who have taken part in the polls "cannot, in any way, represent Kosovo Serbs."
But Oliver Ivanovic, a government official in charge of Kosovo, said Belgrade should be worried by the vote.
"There is a crack between the Serbs (from central enclaves) and the Serbs in the north, but also between them and the government" in Belgrade, Ivanovic told Belgrade radio B92.
Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) won mayoral posts in five municipalities, while its candidates would go to the run-off in another 16, according to preliminary results.
The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) of President Fatmir Sejdiu won the top post in the capital Pristina and in some smaller municipalities.
Nesrin Lushta, chairwoman of Kosovo's electoral commission, said final results of the vote would be confirmed after a run-off on December 13.
The polls were a sign that Kosovans were aware of the importance of the democratic process and creation of a multi-ethnic Kosovo, analyst Ilir Deda told AFP.
"As a country, Kosovo has proved it is not as fragile as it is seen within the international community," Deda said.
Kosovo's independence has so far been recognised by more than 60 countries, including the United States and most European Union nations.
But Serbia, backed by Russia, is challenging the declaration at the International Court of Justice. Around 120,000 Serbs live in Kosovo.
EU parliament member Doris Pack, who led a six-member observer team, said Kosovo had reached "a certain maturity" which may convince other countries to recognise its independence.
"Perhaps some are waiting for the International Court's decision.... If these had been bad elections it would not have been helpful, but I think it is," Pack said.
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