Kosovo PM Seeks End To Political Deadlock After Election Win

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

PRISTINA/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti urged rival parties Monday to help end 18 months of political deadlock after his Vetevendosje party won parliamentary elections but failed to secure enough support to govern alone.

Kurti, 51, said his party would “communicate” and meet opposition leaders in the coming weeks, adding that “we will cooperate with all political subjects.”

Official results from nearly all polling stations showed Vetevendosje receiving about 43 percent of the vote, ahead of the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo with 21 percent and the Democratic League of Kosovo with 18 percent.

The election was Kosovo’s third in less than 18 months after lawmakers repeatedly failed to elect a parliamentary speaker and later a new head of state.

POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY REMAINS

However, analysts said the result was unlikely to end the prolonged political crisis that has left Europe’s youngest nation without fully functioning institutions and delayed reforms needed for closer integration with the European Union.

Even with votes from the diaspora still being counted, Kurti appeared unlikely to secure the absolute majority needed to govern alone, forcing him either to seek coalition partners or lead a fragile minority administration.

Political analyst Artan Muhaxhiri warned that Kosovo’s difficulties were far from over, saying a narrow government would struggle to push through major projects while any coalition would likely require significant compromises.

Yet European Union Enlargement Commissioner Marta Kos congratulated Kurti on the result and stressed that Kosovo’s political forces must now work together to create the institutional stability needed to advance the country’s bid for European Union membership.

NATO-LED PEACEKEEPERS REMAIN

Kosovo, a strategically located Balkan nation of about 1.6 million people, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, nearly a decade after a war that ended with a NATO military intervention.

Serbia has never recognized Kosovo’s independence, and tensions remain high, particularly in northern Kosovo where many ethnic Serbs live and where periodic clashes have raised concerns about regional stability.

Thousands of troops from the NATO-led peacekeeping force KFOR remain stationed in Kosovo to help prevent renewed ethnic violence and maintain security amid unresolved disputes between Belgrade and Pristina.

Kurti’s supporters celebrated into the early hours of Monday in the capital, Pristina, despite the likelihood that coalition negotiations will be needed before a new government can take office.

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