Coercion complaints underscore challenge to EU's Kosovo accord

A woman passes by Italian Carabinieri, who are members of the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR), in the northern part of the ethnically-divided town of Mitrovica November 17, 2013. REUTERS/Bojan Slavkovic

MITROVICA, Kosovo (Reuters) - Low turnout and complaints of coercion in a re-run election in northern Kosovo on Sunday underscored the challenge facing the European Union in implementing an accord designed to end the country's ethnic partition.

Under tight security from NATO soldiers and EU police, voting passed off peacefully in the flashpoint town of Mitrovica, two weeks after masked men hurling teargas halted the original poll.