Kosovo votes in parliamentary elections

(Vatican Radio) Former rebel leader Hashim Thaci has claimed a third term as prime minister of Kosovo after official preliminary results gave him the lead in early parliamentary that also saw minority Serbs freely casting votes for the first time. Thaci's victory came despite concerns over his alleged involvement in war crimes and deep economic difficulties.

Official preliminary results gave Thaci's Democratic Party of Kosovo a 3 percentage point lead over the Democratic League of Kosovo.

Those figures were given with more than 70 percent of ballots counted. The hardline ethnic Albanian Self-determination movement was in third place, it's best showing ever in a general election.

Click below to listen to our report from Stefan Bos