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Kosovo votes/ What is really at stake?

2026-06-07 07:27:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The citizens of Kosovo will today try to give direction to a crisis that, according to observers, stems from the ambition for complete control of power and the lack of willingness to compromise. The way out of it is now limited to only a few scenarios.

Today's elections are the third in less than a year and a half, following regular elections on February 9, 2025, and another early one on December 28.

The former failed to produce a government, while the latter, although they gave the Vetevendosje Movement over 51% of the votes - the largest majority in the Kosovo state - did not produce an agreement for the president, according to a decision of the Constitutional Court.

This automatically led to the dissolution of the Assembly at midnight on April 28 - just two and a half months after its constitution - and two days later the acting president, Albulena Haxhiu, announced new elections.

"After assessing the constitutional deadlines, the organizational needs of the Central Election Commission, and the importance of the widest possible participation of citizens in the process, I have decided that the early elections for the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo will be held on June 7," Haxhiu declared on April 30.

For the leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement and the acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, the dissolution of the tenth legislature was "political misery", caused by the parties previously in the opposition, which he accused of a lack of cooperation and deliberate boycott of the sessions for the election of the president.

"This opposition may bring in some new faces, but its craft and character are old, which is why it is in free fall, it is constantly falling through the electoral cycles," Kurti said.

In the December 28 elections, the Democratic Party of Kosovo came in second with 22 parliamentary mandates, 35 fewer than the Vetëvendosje Movement with 57, the Democratic League of Kosovo won 15, five fewer than in the February elections, and the others fewer.

These parties welcomed the move to new elections, even though LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku said they were imposed by the government, which, with a majority of 51%, demanded political "submission".

The Central Election Commission announced that 22 political parties and three pre-election coalitions are participating in the June 7th race.

The Vetëvendosje Movement enters the elections in coalition with three small entities - Guxo, Alternativa and the Albanian Democratic Christian Party - while the three main opposition parties, PDK, LDK and AAK, are running alone.

The Serbian List - the largest party of Kosovo Serbs, which is supported by official Belgrade, is also competing alone.

Part of this race is also the country's former president, Vjosa Osmani, who leads the list for MPs of the LDK, the party she was a part of before her presidential mandate.

According to the voter list approved by the CEC, about two million citizens, including the diaspora, have the right to vote. In the December 28 elections, about 900,000 of them voted, or about 45 percent of the electorate.

To organize this process, the acting Government of Kosovo approved the CEC's request for the allocation of around 10.9 million euros. For comparison, the December elections had a planned budget of 11.5 million euros, while the actual expenses, according to CEC reports, amounted to around 7.4 million./rel