Serbia wants voting in Kosovo

BELGRADE, Serbia, May 10 (UPI) -- The U.N. mission in Kosovo has refused to supervise voting by Serbian residents of Kosovo in the Serbian parliamentary election Sunday.

The U.N. Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo, or UNMIK, oversaw elections after 1999. But U.N. officials say Kosovo is now an independent country, Deutsche Welle reported.

Under Serb law, Serbian citizens living outside the country have the right to vote.

Oliver Ivanovic, head of the Serb List for Kosovo and Metohija, said the election outcome will not be reliable unless UNMIK is in charge. He said the most recent voter lists he has are from 1996.

Kosovo President Fatmir Sejdiu said Serbia wants voting in Kosovo "so that Kosovar institutions are trampled underfoot."

"We want citizens of Serbian ethnicity to become part of our institutions," he said. "That's why these elections are unacceptable to us, and they won't have any validity."