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Kosovo votes for parliament amid calls for talks with Serbia

A boy walks by graffiti in southern, ethnic Albanian-dominated part of ethnically divided town of Mitrovica, Kosovo, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019. Kosovo holds an early general election on Sunday after outgoing prime minister resigned following a request from a Hague-based court to be questioned on crimes against ethnic Serbs during and after the country's 1998-99 war. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo is electing a new parliament amid calls for leaders to resume dialogue with Serbia over normalizing ties.

Some 1.9 million eligible voters on Sunday started to cast their ballots to elect 120 lawmakers.

The vote comes after the outgoing prime minister resigned in July following a request from a Hague-based court to question him over crimes against ethnic Serbs during and after the country’s 1998-99 war.

No single political party is likely to win the vote on its own.

The Serb minority has 10 seats and 10 others belong to other minorities.

Kosovo became independent in 2008 after NATO intervened in 1999 to stop then-Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic’s bloody crackdown on Albanian independence fighters’ insurrection. It is recognized by more than 100 countries but not by Serbia.

The Associated Press