A referendum to recall four Albanian mayors elected last year in Serb-majority towns in northern Kosovo will take place on April 21, the Central Election Commission of Kosovo announced, France Presse and Agerpres reported on Sunday.

These mayors were elected in April 2023 in local elections that were boycotted by the Kosovo Serbs.

Then they took to the streets as the new Albanian mayors, elected with a turnout of less than 4%, began appointing themselves. Demonstrations broke out, which quickly turned into riots. About 30 soldiers of KFOR, NATO’s force in Kosovo, were injured in these clashes.

The decision of the Central Election Commission of Kosovo, announced on Friday, was made after checking the signatures on the petitions sent in January by the municipalities of Zvečan, North Mitrovica, Leposavic and Zubin Potok.

About a quarter of the 45,000 registered voters signed the petition, surpassing the threshold of at least 20% needed to hold a referendum.

Serbia does not recognize the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo in 2008, where about 200,000 Serbs live in a population of 1.8 million.

The decision to hold a referendum was welcomed by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and representatives of the European Parliament saw it as a step towards “de-escalation”.

“Now it is important that the process is fair, inclusive and transparent,” Michael Davenport, head of the OSCE mission in Kosovo, wrote on the X social network.

A petition followed by a referendum is the only legal way to organize new local elections.

For several years, Western countries have been trying to normalize relations between Kosovo and Serbia, which is a condition for the accession of both countries to the European Union.