Kosovo’s new mayor takes up post peacefully in minority area as West warns against ethnic violence

By ZENEL ZHINIPOTOKU and LLAZAR SEMINI
Associated Press

MITROVICA, Kosovo (AP) — A new mayor has been sworn in in northern Kosovo after a vote that was boycotted by the ethnic Serb minority which dominates the area. Erden Atic, who is from the Bosnian minority, took up his post in the northern, Serb-dominated part of the divided city of Mitrovica on Friday, calling on citizens to cooperate. Police and EU representatives were seen in the area, but the ceremony passed off peacefully. Local elections took place last month in four Serb-dominated communes in northern Kosovo after Serb representatives walked out in protest at a plan to create an association of municipalities. Fearing a flare-up, Western powers called on the newly elected Albanian officials not to use force to take over offices or public buildings.