In Kosovo, Kurti's party won the elections, but without a majority to overcome the crisis
Kyiv • UNN
Kurti's party won 43% in the Kosovo elections but did not secure a majority. A coalition is needed to resolve the crisis and elect a president.
In Kosovo's parliamentary elections, the third in the Balkan country in just 18 months, Prime Minister Albin Kurti's party won on Sunday but failed to secure the majority needed to end the country's prolonged political crisis, UNN reports, citing Reuters.
Details
Kosovo seeks to join the European Union but has lacked a fully functioning government for most of the past year. Deep divisions in parliament have blocked the election of a speaker and a new head of state.
Kurti's Vetevendosje party led with 43% of the vote after 99.4% of the ballots were counted, official results showed.
The party will still need coalition partners to form a new government and a compromise with rivals to secure the two-thirds majority required to elect a new president.
The Democratic Party of Kosovo stood at 21% in the polls, while the Democratic League of Kosovo held 18%.
Vetevendosje won 51% in the last elections in December, compared to 42% in February 2025, but was unable to reach an agreement with other parties on a candidate for the largely ceremonial post of president. This deadlock led to the dissolution of parliament in April and yet another snap election.
Turnout was less than 37%, down from 45% in December, the election commission said. Voters interviewed at polling stations said they were tired of repeated elections and wanted an end to the political stalemate, as well as an improvement in living standards in line with economic growth.
The EU has urged politicians in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, to establish strong institutions capable of implementing the reforms necessary for membership.
Successive elections have delayed these reforms and the inflow of EU funds.
Kurti's party first came to power in 2021 with a more nationalist, welfare-oriented agenda. Like all major parties in Kosovo, it is pro-Western. It opposes further concessions to Serbia, with whom relations remain strained.
Kosovo's election commission stated that more than 900 candidates from 17 parties and three coalition groups are competing for seats in the 120-member parliament.
There are approximately 2.1 million registered voters, which exceeds Kosovo's population of 1.6 million and reflects a large diaspora living mainly in Western Europe that tends to support Kurti's party, the publication writes.