Kosovo votes amid tensions with allies, Serbia

Voters began casting ballots in Kosovo elections Sunday in a contest that pits combative incumbent Prime Minister Albin Kurti's quest to stamp out Serbian influence against a fractured opposition's vow to boost the economy.

Kurti and his Vetevendosje ("Self-Determination") party (VV) have campaigned on their efforts to dismantle the remaining Serbian institutions in Kosovo while expanding the government's reach to Serb-majority areas.

Those pledges have been well received by large swathes of Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority, with one of the few available polls projecting that VV was on course to capture roughly half of the vote.

Kurti's campaign has sought to drive home the message, insisting the government is in greater control of Kosovo's territory than at any other time since independence.

"It will be a historic referendum on Sunday," Kurti said at a campaign rally in Pristina Friday night, emphasising the need to secure 500,000 votes to form a majority government.

Animosity between Kosovo and Serbia has persisted since the war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents in the late 1990s.

Serbia has steadfastly refused to acknowledge Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008.

Since the war's end, remnants of Serbian government institutions continued to provide services -- ranging from health care to education -- to Serbs inside Kosovo.

But in the past year, Kurti has sought to end that status quo.

Voting began at 07:00 am (0600 GMT) and will end 12 hours later, when exit polls are expected.

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