Belgrade snubs Serbs who voted in Kosovo poll

Serbia refuses to recognise the independence of Kosovo, where 90 percent of the population is ethnic Albanian.

Belgrade authorities will no longer help members of the Serb minority who voted in local polls in Kosovo, which Serbia still considers as its southern province, an official said Friday.

- Belgrade can not and will not accept cooperation with the Serbs who have won in (Kosovo) elections - held on November 15, state secretary for Kosovo Oliver Ivanovic told Beta news agency.

The withdrawal of cooperation could include Belgrade no longer financing local authorities or withdrawing grants for the Serb population.

Serbian officials had called on the estimated 120,000 Serbs remaining in the renegade territory to boycott the polls, the first held since Kosovo proclaimed independence in 2008.

Serbia refuses to recognise the independence of Kosovo, where 90 percent of the population is ethnic Albanian.

Electoral officials said Serbs won mayoral posts in four municipalities in central Kosovo, where they make up the majority of the population.

But due to a boycott by many Serbs in northern Kosovo, they lost control in three local councils there.

Ivanovic said the move by Serbs who - have decided to listen and trust Pristina and representatives of the international community whose countries have recognized Kosovo is something that must make us worry. -

- This can be used as an argument for those who think that Kosovo's independence was justified - Ivanovic said.

So far 63 countries have recognised the young state, including the United States and all but five EU members.

Serbia, backed by Russia, is challenging the declaration at the International Court of Justice and the first hearings are to be held on December 1.

- The Serbian government has been and must be the only authority the Serbs in Kosovo trust - Ivanovic said.