Mayor from ruling Kosovo Albanian party takes office in tense Serb-majority area

Italian Carabinieri part of the NATO-led peacekeeping force stand guard in North Mitrovica, Kosovo, April 23, 2023. REUTERS/Valdrin Xhemaj /File Photo

PRISTINA (Reuters) - A mayor from Kosovo's ethnic Albanian ruling party was sworn into office in the majority Serb half of the divided town of Mitrovica on Friday a month after local elections that were boycotted by local Serbs.

Some 50,000 Serbs living in four north Kosovo municipalities shunned the vote in protest that their demands for more autonomy have not been met - another sign that a peace deal signed between Kosovo and Serbia in March is not working.