Kosovo Albanians snub Serb poll

By Nick Walton
BBC News, Pristina, Kosovo

Serbs live in scattered enclaves - and many left Kosovo after the war

Many ethnic Serbs in the internationally-administered province of Kosovo voted in Sunday's Serbian election.

But Kosovo's 90% Albanian majority ignored the election - and that was reflected in the newspaper coverage.

To Kosovo's ethnic Albanians, the Serbian election was irrelevant and a distraction as they await the international community's decision on Kosovo's future status.

They have no doubt that this will result in some form of independence. Kosovo's president, Fatmir Sejdiu, has refused to comment on the election, saying it was nothing to do with him.

One paper, Kosovo Sot, said Serbia and its affairs had to be treated as just another neighbour, like the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or Montenegro.

The Express newspaper carried a large front-page photograph of an old Kosovo Serb gentleman with a traditional Chetnik cap and flamboyant moustache under the headline "Serbs don't change". Inside, its pages also said Serbs had voted for the past.

Many Kosovo Albanian newspapers kept the Serbian election well away from the front pages. Their message is clear: Kosovo's future is independence and that has little to do with Serbia, whoever is in power in Belgrade.