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Kosovo elections: ruling Vetevendosje party loses majority, initial results show Kosovo faces political uncertainty as ruling party fails to secure election majority
(about 13 hours later)
Result means prime minister Albin Kurti’s leftwing party will have to form a coalition PM Albin Kurti claims ‘victory’ and vows to form government but analysts warn of prolonged crisis and instability
Kosovo’s ruling Vetevendosje party was on track to win the country’s parliamentary election, but will need to negotiate a coalition with other parties to form a government, exit polls and preliminary results showed. The governing party of the prime minister, Albin Kurti, is on track to secure the most seats in Kosovo’s parliament but will lack the numbers for a majority, the election commission has said.
With 73% of the votes counted, prime minister Albin Kurti’s leftist Self-Determination Movement Party, or Vetevendosje, had won 41.99%. Sunday’s vote pitted Kurti’s campaign to stamp out the influence of Serbia, more than 15 years after Kosovo declared independence, against the opposition’s vow to boost the economy in one of the poorest corners of Europe.
The election result would be a drop from the more than 50% that it won in 2021. But it puts Kurti in position to lead the next government in a country whose politics are dominated by the relationship with neighbouring Serbia and Serbs within its borders. With 93% of votes counted and no party with a clear majority in the 120-seat parliament, analysts warned that Kosovo could be facing prolonged crisis, possibly ending with another election.
During the election campaign Kurti apparently ruled out forming a coalition, saying he would not participate in government unless he won an outright majority. Kurti’s Vetëvendosje (“Self-Determination”) party (VV) was on course to win roughly 41% of the vote, according to election commission data, down from about 50% in 2021.
But, late on Sunday after proclaiming victory, Kurti said he would form the new government without hinting who could be a potential coalition partner. The rightwing Democratic party of Kosovo (PDK) trailed in second with 22% of the votes, followed by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with 18%.
“We are the first party, the winning party that will create the next government,” Kurti told reporters. “We will continue to finish the work that we have started.” The election expert Mazllum Baraliu said either of the two largest parties could seek the support of smaller blocs. “Whichever of these two combinations succeeds, they will not be stable and will be temporary,” he said. If this failed and the president was also unable to broker a compromise, a new election would be inevitable, he said.
Kurti’s party called supporters to go out in the streets to celebrate. Kurti had hinted before the vote that he would prefer to sit in opposition if his party was unable to form a majority government, but changed his tune as the votes were counted. “Without hesitation, we will form a government,” he told supporters overnight, congratulating them on their “victory”.
Kosovo’s election commission said it was not able to publish the full results on Sunday because its software was down and they will collect data manually and publish early hours on Monday. Leart Hoxha, a political analyst, said VV would be in no rush to form a coalition, instead remaining in charge as a caretaker government while the other parties squabbled. “This will be a year that will be wasted; it will be a government that will not be able to push for major projects,” he said, adding that this would be likely to lead to political and social crises.
“We apologise to all Kosovo citizens,” head of election commission Kreshnik Radoniqi said. Election officials said turnout for the vote was about 40%.
The opposition Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) conceded Vetevendosje victory. Its leader Lumir Abdixhiku said that according to LDK’s own vote count Vetevendosje had come first with 39.08% of the votes, the opposition Democratic party of Kosovo came second with 21.84% of the votes while his party came third with 18.14% of the votes. Twenty seats in parliament are reserved for minority parties, including 10 for Kosovo’s ethnic Serbs, who are vastly outnumbered by ethnic Albanians.
Three exit polls gave Kurti between 37% and 40.04% of the votes. The Serb List party said it had won all 10 seats, which if confirmed could put it in the position of kingmaker – even though the party has often boycotted parliament and is regarded by Kosovan authorities as the armed wing of Serbia.
Kurti, an Albanian nationalist, came to power in 2021 when a coalition run by the Vetevendosje party received more than 50% of votes and secured a seven-seat majority in the 120-seat parliament. “We thank our President Aleksandar Vučić for his congratulations and support, not only today but during all these years,” the party’s leader, Zlatan Elek, told a news conference, referring to Serbia’s president. “We have only one country and one president.”
Kosovo, Europe’s newest country, gained independence from Serbia in 2008 with backing from the United States after a 78-day Nato bombing campaign against Serbian forces in 1999. Sign up to This is Europe
Political analysts say Kurti’s popularity has been bolstered by moves to extend government control in Kosovo’s ethnic Serb-majority north. But critics say he has failed to deliver on education and health services, and that his policies have distanced Kosovo from its traditional allies, the European Union and the United States. The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment
The EU placed economic curbs on the country in 2023 for its role in stoking tensions with ethnic Serbs, cutting at least 150m euros ($155m) in funding, Reuters has found. after newsletter promotion
The centre-right LDK campaigned on restoring relations with the United States and the EU, and joining Nato. Kosovo fought a war with Serbia in the late 1990s as it sought to break away, but Belgrade has never recognised its declaration of independence, made in 2008.
Kurti’s government has had some wins. Unemployment has shrunk from 30% to about 10%, the minimum wage is up and last year the economy grew faster than the western Balkans average. Kurti’s government is the first to serve its full term in office since the declaration, but his time in office has been turbulent. Tensions spiked after EU- and US-backed negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia all but collapsed in March 2023. In the aftermath, Nato peacekeepers were assaulted by rioting Serbs while a deadly armed standoff in the north sent regional tensions soaring.
The election campaign has been acrimonious. The Elections Complaints and Appeals Panel, which monitors party and candidates’ complaints, has issued more than 650,000 euros in fines to parties this election season, three times the 2021 tally, data from NGO Democracy in Action shows. Kurti also launched a concerted effort to dismantle the remaining Serbian institutions operating on Kosovan soil by shuttering Belgrade-backed banks and post and tax offices along with banning the Serbian currency and car registration plates.
Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report Throughout the unrest, Kurti has remained unwavering, even if it meant running afoul of Kosovo’s allies in the US and Europe.