Polls have opened on Sunday in 25 municipalities across Kosovo for the run-off of elections for mayors.

During the first round of elections, on November 3, mayors of 13 municipalities secured a majority vote.

The elections are seen as a test for the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, whose governments signed an EU-brokered deal earlier this year.

Violence marked the first round of elections, when masked men stormed polling stations in the northern Mitrovica region, where ethnic Serb populations reside.

The Kosovo Central Election Commission ordered a repeat vote in 3 stations.

Candidates of the ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, will run again for mayor in 11 municipalities, reports BalkanInsight. Seven candidates of the Serbian Citizens’ Initiative, known as Srpska, are running in mainly Serbian municipalities.

The Kosovo Police, EU rule-of-law mission EULEX, and KFOR troops are deployed mainly in the north to assure the security.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is also monitoring the crucial elections.

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