European Parliament (EP) Rapporteur for Kosovo Ulrike Lunacek has stated that the parliamentary elections in Kosovo, held on December 12 and January 9, were manipulated, adding that this may affect Kosovo's EU pathway.

These elections cannot be expected to bring about stable institutions, and the future Kosovo parliament should take into account that they were elected through an irregular process, Lunacek stated in an interview for the Pristina-based daily Koha Ditore.

Certain people did not want for the Kosovo election process to be regular, Lunacek pointed out. Not all of the Kosovo society, but rather a group of people who manipulated others, and who need to be held legally responsible, she added.

Lunacek stressed that election fraud was not spontaneous, but was rather premeditated by organized groups.

Those groups should be legally held responsible, and they should realize that what they did was inadmissible and that the Kosovo citizens will not tolerate it, she stressed.

The paper said that the EP observers assessed that the Kosovo elections were illegitimate, did not fulfil international standards, and damaged Kosovo's democracy and image.

I regret having to say this, but these two rounds of elections severely tarnish Kosovo's image which may negatively affect its EU integration, Lunacek underscored.