In Kosovo today, people return to the polls for early parliamentary elections. This is the third election in 18 months, aimed at resolving the political stalemate. The main political parties failed to reach an agreement on the new president by the March deadline. The prolonged crisis has damaged Kosovo’s economy, already struggling due to the global energy crisis. Prime Minister Albin Kurti‘s party holds a clear majority, but the election of the president requires broader consensus. The opposition accuses Kurti of wanting to control all political institutions. Analysts do not foresee significant changes in the election outcome. The political stalemate has delayed access to European Union funds.
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Today’s elections were called after the main political parties failed to reach an agreement by the March deadline on who should succeed former president Vjosa Osmani. The first elections, held in February 2025 and inconclusive, left the country without a functioning government for much of last year, forcing new elections to be called in December.
Kosovo is one of Europe’s youngest and poorest countries: it declared independence from Serbia in 2008, after the 1998-99 war, which ended with a NATO bombing campaign that forced Serbia to withdraw.
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Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s center-left party, Vetëvendosje, has held a clear parliamentary majority since the early elections in December. However, the president of Kosovo is elected by at least 80 deputies in the 120-member assembly, which requires broader political consensus. Kurti is challenged by the two main opposition parties, the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Democratic League of Kosovo, who accuse him of wanting to impose total control over all political institutions in the country.
Armenia at the polls, PM Pashinyan favored
Also today, polls are open in Armenia for parliamentary elections, a vote considered a test for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s pro-European orientation. Pashinyan’s ruling party, leading in the polls, faces an opposition that, for many Armenians, remains tied to Russian influence in this former Soviet republic.
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