Kosovo goes to the polls in snap election in bid t
Voters in Kosovo are casting ballots in an early parliamentary election in the hope of breaking a political deadlock that has gripped the small Balkan nation for much of this year.
The snap vote was scheduled after the prime minister Albin Kurti’s governing Vetëvendosje, or Self-Determination, party failed to form a government despite winning the most votes in a 9 February election.
The deadlock was the first time Kosovo was unable to form a government since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after the 1998-99 war that ended in a Nato bombing campaign.
The prime minister’s party is again the favourite in the race, but it is unclear whether it will manage to muster a majority this time in the 120-member parliament, after other mainstream parties refused an alliance.
According to Kosovo’s election laws, 20 parliamentary seats are assigned automatically to ethnic Serb representatives and other minority parties.
Another inconclusive vote would further deepen the crisis. Kosovo has not approved a budget for next year, prompting fears of possible negative effects on the already poor economy in the country of 2 million people.
Lawmakers also are set to elect a new president in March as President Vjosa Osmani’s mandate expires in early April. If this fails, too, another snap election must be held.
The main opposition parties are the Democratic League of Kosovo and the Democratic party of Kosovo. They have accused Kurti of authoritarianism and of alienating Kosovo’s US and European Union allies since he came to power in 2021.
A former political prisoner during Serbia’s rule in Kosovo, the 50-year-old Kurti has taken a tough stand in talks mediated by the European Union on normalising relations with Belgrade. In response, the EU and US imposed punitive measures.
Kurti has promised to buy military equipment to boost security.
No reliable pre-election polls have been published. Kurti’s party at the previous election won about 42% of the votes while the two main rival parties had together about 40%. Analysts say that even the slightest changes in numbers on Sunday could prove decisive for the future distribution of power but that nothing is certain.
Ilmi Deliu, a 71-year-old pensioner from the capital, Pristina, said he hoped the election would bring a change or “we will end up in an abyss”.
“Young people no longer want to live here,” he said.
Tensions with restive ethnic Serbs in the north exploded in clashes in 2023 when scores of Nato-led peacekeepers were injured. In a positive step, ethnic Serb mayors this month took power peacefully there after a municipal vote.
Kurti has also agreed to accept third-country migrants deported from the US as part of tough anti-immigration measures by the Trump administration. One migrant has arrived so far, authorities have told the Associated Press.
Kosovo has one of the poorest economies in Europe. It is one of the six western Balkan countries striving to eventually join the EU, but both Kosovo and Serbia have been told they must first normalise relations.