The formation of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Vetëvendosje (VV), in power since 2021 in Kosovo, won the new early legislative elections on Sunday June 7, largely boycotted by voters, but recorded a declining score which does not allow it to form the next government alone.
Supporting a social policy marked on the left and a nationalist orientation, the VV won nearly 43% of the votes, compared to 51% during the previous early poll in December, according to preliminary results published on the Electoral Commission website based on the counting of ballots in almost all polling stations. Its score suggests complicated negotiations on the new majority, while the small Balkan country has been facing institutional paralysis for sixteen months.
Speaking at midnight to several hundred of his supporters in the central square of Pristina, the head of the interim government stressed that this was the fourth consecutive victory for his party since 2021. “This confirms that this decade, at least, and I think even longer, will be that of the Vetëvendosje government,” launched Albin Kurti.
Less than 37% of the approximately 2 million voters voted in this election, the third in sixteen months. Mobilization has been blunted by repeated elections, which have fueled frustration. By December, about 45% of voters had cast ballots. The two main opposition forces, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), won 21% and almost 18% of the vote, respectively. “That’s enough!” “, exclaimed Gezim Selimi, 66, a retired teacher, after voting in Pristina. “I expect the parties to finally come to their senses and work for Kosovo,” he said.
Since the February 2025 elections, Parliament has been deadlocked. Also arriving in the lead, the VV had failed to build a majority to form the government. After months of procrastination, the country decided to call early elections in December. The new result allowed Albin Kurti to form a cabinet.
“Great immaturity”
But this time Parliament stumbled over the election of the country’s president, due to a lack of compromise between the parties, and it was dissolved again in April. For Virgjina Dumnica, who voted in Pristina, this vote was “useless”. “Political parties are showing great immaturity because our country is not rich enough to organize two elections per year,” insisted this 71-year-old retired judge. The vote cost the country more than 10 million euros, a huge sum for one of the poorest countries in Europe.
As for the hope of seeing this election resolve the political crisis, experts are cautious. “The crisis will continue,” said political economy researcher Ardi Uka before the elections. For Safet Gerxhaliu, professor at the University of Pristina, Kosovo is mired in a “systemic crisis” (…) the biggest since the declaration of independence” from Serbia in 2008.
This crisis prevented the country from receiving European funds provided for in Brussels’ growth plan for the Western Balkans. For now, the country has received 62 million euros out of the 980 million available, to be used until the end of 2027 in exchange for the adoption of several reforms. Inflation exceeded 5% in January at an annual rate, and “continues to increase mainly due to the rise in food prices”, notes the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
