Kosovo voted yesterday for new leaders who will be under pressure to tackle corruption at home and resolve lingering tensions with former war foe Serbia, a nagging source of instability in Europe.

A decade after it declared independence from Serbia, former province Kosovo is still struggling for full recognition on the world stage.

Belgrade denies its independence and Brussels has been unable to get the neighbours to make progress in talks to resolve their conflict.

The West is hoping Sunday’s poll will offer a chance to re-energise the deadlocked dialogue.

But Kosovo’s 1.9 million electorate is far more concerned with issues like high unemployment, widespread graft and poor healthcare.

“We need freedom, a state governed by the rule of law, prosperity,” voter Mentor Nimani, 47, told AFP in Pristina shortly after casting his ballot.