Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti says Serbia should cut off support for militias that sparked protests in northern Kosovo last month.

Corti said Pristina would consider reholding local elections if Serbia took the first steps.

Kosovo has said it is ready to hold new elections in Serb-majority municipalities, which have been in turmoil for more than two weeks.


petition

Kosovo President Viosa Osmani said on Wednesday she was open to new municipal elections in Serb-majority areas where violent protests have been seen if 20 percent of voters sign a petition demanding it.

In an exclusive interview with Reuters, Osmani said she believed the petition was the most "democratic way" to start new elections because it would ensure the participation of Serbian citizens because the demand would come from them.

Violent protests erupted in four northern municipalities after Kosovo appointed ethnic Albanian mayors who were elected with only 4.3 percent of voters, while local elections were boycotted by Serbs, who make up the majority of the region's population.

Serbs in northern Kosovo reject the declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008, nearly a decade after the end of the war there, and still consider Belgrade as their capital.