Kosovo is facing a political crisis after Albin Kurti’s failure to form a government. Paralysis of parliament could lead to early elections and jeopardize the funding of services.
Interim Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti did not get enough support from parliament to form a government on Sunday. This deepened the months-long political crisis in Kosovo, and this Balkan country is likely to face early elections, world agencies said.
The program of the new government presented by Kurti, who is in power from 2021, was supported by only 56 out of 120 MPs, with at least 61 votes needed. 48 deputies voted against, four abstained and 12 did not vote.
Lack of support for the government
Although Kurti’s party Self-Determination (VV) won the parliamentary elections held in February of this year, but unlike the previous ones, after which it had 58 mandates, this time it won ten less, so it had to look for coalition partners. This fact led to sharp disputes and postponements of key votes in a divided parliament.
In Sunday’s vote, VV was supported by only a few representatives of minority parties. Opposition entities Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) voted against Kurti, criticizing his approach to Kosovo’s relations with Western allies and his actions in the ethnically divided north of Kosovo, where a large Serbian minority lives.
The potential of a new person at the helm
According to the law, President Vjosa Osmaniová must now entrust the formation of the government to someone else within ten days. This person could be PDK leader Memli Krasniqi, whose party finished second in the February elections. Krasniqi, however, told reporters after Sunday’s vote that he would not accept such an offer because the PDK would not gain the necessary majority in parliament.
Delays in the formation of the government will also cause economic losses to Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence from Serbia in 2008. It is increasingly unlikely that the state budget for 2026 will be approved on time, which could threaten the state’s ability to finance key services. The use of development aid from EU funds is also at risk.
