PRISTINA, Kosovo-Serbs in newly independent Kosovo cast ballots for Serbia's elections Sunday, a vote U.N. officials branded as illegal.

The U.N. administration in Kosovo allowed Serbs to cast ballots but said the vote for municipal leaders was "without legal standing or effect in Kosovo."

"Illegal elections cannot have legal consequences," U.N. official Joachim Ruecker said in a statement. "Their outcome will not be recognized."

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian leaders called the decision to hold the poll in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in February, a provocation and urged Serbs not to take part.

Serb voters were choosing Sunday between pro-Western leaders or radical candidates seeking closer ties with Russia.

Kosovo's declaration of independence, which has enraged many Serbs, could end up helping ultranationalists.

"I'm expecting that the winner will be parties with nationalist, radical views," said Marko Jaksic, a Serb leader in Kosovo's tense northern town of Mitrovica. "Otherwise, if those Radicals do not win, we will move. We will leave Kosovo."

But Dejan Filipovic, a Serb who lives in the northern town of Zvecan, said he hoped for a break from Kosovo's violent past.

"I hope the winner will be the one who is better for us living in Kosovo," he said. "I really hope that these elections will bring peace to this region."

Ethnic Albanians account for 90 percent of Kosovo's 2 million people, but the restive Serbian minority refuses to acknowledge the ex-Serbian province's independence. Serbs consider Kosovo the heart of their ancient homeland and Serbian Orthodox faith.

Kosovo's ethnic Albanian deputy prime minister, Hajredin Kuqi, urged Serbs not to take part in Sunday's ballot.

"We invite all our Serbian citizens not to participate in such elections," Kuqi said. "They are illegal elections and institutions will not be created according to these elections."

Kosovo authorities are due to take over the administration of the new country from the U.N. on June 15, although the world body is expected to remain in Kosovo alongside a European Union mission that will mentor Kosovo's leadership.