Kosovo in the elections: The race for the new parliament and the political challenges

More than 2 million voters in Kosovo will head to the polls on Sunday to elect a new 120-seat parliament for another four-year term, in a process widely seen as a popularity test for current Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his party, the Vetevendosje Movement, as he seeks a second term.

While Sunday's elections will determine the composition of the Assembly, the main focus remains the race for the post of prime minister. Kurti will face Bedri Hamza of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Lumir Abdixhiku of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and Ramush Haradinaj of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK).

Since declaring independence from Serbia in 2008, Kosovo has had six governments and five different prime ministers, none of whom completed a full term. However, Vetëvendosje's landslide victory in 2021 enabled the party to govern alone for a full term.

Those elections shocked the opposition, as PDK and LDK, once the dominant forces on the political scene, fell to 17 and 12 percent of the vote respectively, compared to more than 50 percent for Vetëvendosje.

Although Kurti had the necessary majority to govern, his mandate has been characterized by constant clashes with the West, particularly over his efforts to extend Kosovo's authority to the four Serb-majority municipalities in the north: Leposaviq, Zvecan, Zubin Potok, and North Mitrovica.

The international community has frequently criticized his actions against Serbian-controlled institutions that have continued to operate in these areas. In June 2023, the European Union imposed punitive measures on Kosovo after a security operation to install Albanian mayors in the north sparked violent protests by Serbs, injuring dozens of NATO peacekeepers.

The EU has demanded that Kosovo withdraw police from municipal buildings and said that the new mayors – elected by a small number of voters after a Serbian boycott – should exercise their duties from other locations. Brussels has also demanded that new local elections be held with full participation by the Serb community.

In recent days, Richard Grenell, former envoy to US President Donald Trump, has been particularly critical of Kurti's policies.

When on Wednesday, in an interview for a television station in Istog, Kurti declared that Kosovo-US relations are "stronger than ever," Grenell ironized this statement.

"Fantasy. Relations have never been worse. Albin Kurti has been condemned by the first Trump administration, the Biden administration, NATO, the EU, the US embassy, ​​Antony Blinken, etc.," Grenell wrote on the social network X.

On Sunday, 903 polling stations will open in Kosovo, with a total of 1,280 candidates representing political parties, coalitions, civic initiatives and one independent candidate. A political entity must pass the 5 percent threshold of the vote to secure a seat in the Assembly.

In addition to the 1.9 million voters inside Kosovo, around 50,000 citizens will vote at 17 Kosovo embassies and 15 consulates abroad. Over 50,000 others have registered to vote by mail.

"This is the first time we are organizing voting in embassies and consulates. I call on registered citizens to respect the rules in the places where they will vote. I want a smooth process," Kreshnik Radoniqi, chairman of the Central Election Commission, said on Friday.

In these elections, 100 deputies will be elected by direct vote, while the remaining 20 seats in the Assembly are reserved for non-Albanian communities, of which ten seats belong to the Serbian community.

Traditionally, the Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista party has been the dominant force in Kosovo Serb politics. Since November 2022, Serb MPs have boycotted the Assembly in protest of Kurti's policies in the north of the country. Reporter.al