Kosovo elections, Rutte: NATO will work with whoever leads the country

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said he expects a stable government in Kosovo after the elections and that NATO will work with whoever leads the country. He said this at a press conference ahead of a meeting of defense ministers of member states, which will take place on Thursday at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels.

"This has been a democratic process. What we understand is that we have the initial results, but the counting of votes is still ongoing and we will have the final results. And, based on the results so far, it looks like there will be a coalition government," Rutte said.

"Of course, we ensure that we will work with whoever will lead the country. And of course we wish all politicians all the best in managing the political space and ensuring that there is a stable government as soon as possible," Rutte said.

On Sunday, February 9, parliamentary elections were held in Kosovo.

Based on 99 percent of votes counted, Prime Minister Albin Kurti's Vetevendosje Movement received the most votes in the February 9 parliamentary elections, namely 47 out of 120 parliamentary seats – however, not enough to form a sole government.

According to preliminary results, the Democratic Party of Kosovo is expected to have 25 deputies, the Democratic League of Kosovo 20, and the coalition gathered around the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo 8 deputies.

These figures may change after counting conditional and diaspora votes.

After declaring victory in Sunday's elections, Kurti said that Vetëvendosje will independently form the Government.

Analysts in Kosovo assess that the current preliminary results of political entities in the February 9 elections create uncertainty regarding the exact configuration of the country's future Assembly and Government.

Political representatives of non-Serb minority communities in Kosovo, who, according to the preliminary results of the Central Election Commission, have entered the Kosovo Assembly, would support – in principle – any candidate for the formation of the new government, regardless of whether they come from the current ruling party, Vetëvendosje, or from the opposition parties.

The February 9 elections were the first regular elections that Kosovo has held since declaring independence.

Observers said the elections were peaceful, with some irregularities, but no major incidents.

The turnout was 40.59 percent of over 1.9 million eligible voters in Kosovo. Previously, the diaspora also voted for these elections, via mail, but also physically in several Kosovo diplomatic missions around the world./REL