Ahead of the Sunday’s local elections in the town of Medvedja in south-western Serbia, Kosovo’s outgoing prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj advised local Albanians to turn out for the local vote on Sunday, the Beta news agency reported from Pristina.

Medvedja is a part of the Presevo Valley and the only one out of three municipalities where the Serbs create a majority.

In the whole region, which includes the towns of Presevo and Bujanovac, ethnic Albanians create a majority.

“We agreed that all eligible Albanian voters should fulfil their civic duty and vote for their best candidates,” at the local elections, a statement from Haradinaj’s office said.

He talked with the representatives of the Alternative for Change, Democratic Party and the Party for Democratic Action.

The statement said they discussed the situation in the region and Haradinaj expressed his commitment to the support of the Albanian community in Medvedja.

The statement also accused Belgrade of “continuing to discriminate Albanians in the region, erasing them form voters’ lists and their addresses to deprive them of voting and being represented at the municipal level.”

According to the 2011 census, 6,500 Serbs and 527 Albanians live in Medvedja. A total population is some 7,500. 

The talks also came ahead of the October 6 early general elections in Kosovo called after Haradinaj resigned following a subpoena from The Hague Specai Court for Kosovo Liberation Army war crimes.