Three ethnic Albanian mayors were sworn in on May 25 to lead municipalities with ethnic Serbian majorities in northern Kosovo where Serbs boycotted by-elections sparked by resignations over a cross-border dispute between Pristina and Belgrade. A fourth mayor was sworn in last week in a process that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic led a boycott of and has condemned as an "occupation" of areas of the former Serbian province. Vucic has vowed never to recognize Kosovar independence and Western-mediated talks on normalization have proceeded slowly. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Balkan Service, click here.
