Pristina, Kosovo
Reuters
Nationalist Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s party won more than half of the votes in Sunday’s election, opening the way to create a new government after a year-long political deadlock that has paralysed parliament and delayed key international funding.
The vote is the second this year in Kosovo after Kurti’s Vetevendosje party fell short of a majority in February. Months of failed coalition talks prompted President Vjosa Osmani to dissolve parliament in November and call an early election.
Kosovo’s Prime Minister and Levizja Vetevendosje (Movement for Self-Determination) party leader Albin Kurti votes during a snap parliamentary election, nearly a year after a political deadlock that prevented the formation of a new government, in Pristina, Kosovo, on 28th December, 2025. PICTURE: Reuters/Valdrin Xhemaj
Kurti’s party was leading with 50.2 per cent of Sunday’s vote, with 87 per cent of votes counted after polls closed at 7pm. Analysts say it is difficult to predict if Kurti will be able to form the government on its own without a coalition to secure the 61 seats in the 120-seat assembly.
“The results are not final and I don’t see how Kurti will form the government alone but it will be very easy for him to govern with a small coalition,” said Ismet Kryeziu from the Kosovo Democratic Institute think tank.
Kryeziu said Kurti needs few votes from Albanian or minority parties to form the new cabinet.
The two main opposition parties, the Democratic Party and the Democratic League, were at 20.7 per cent and at 14 per cent, respectively.
“The will of the citizens is now in the ballot boxes. Preserving this will is essential for the legitimacy and credibility of the electoral process,” Kurti said on a video message after exit polls were published.
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Another failure to form a government and reopen parliament would prolong the crisis at a critical time. Lawmakers must elect a new president in April and ratify €1 billion in loan agreements from the European Union and World Bank that expire in the coming months.
The Balkan country’s opposition parties have refused to govern with Kurti, criticising his handling of ties with Western allies and his approach to Kosovo’s ethnically divided north, where a Serb minority lives. Kurti blames the opposition for the impasse.
In a bid to woo voters, Kurti has pledged an additional month of salary per year for public sector workers, €1 billion per year in capital investment and a new prosecution unit to fight organised crime. Opposition parties have also focused on improving living standards – a leading concern for voters.
“We want the next government to create conditions for the youth to stay here and not leave,” one voter, 58-year-old Rexhep Karakashi, told Reuters in the capital, Pristina.
Opinion polls were not published in Kosovo, but some seen by Reuters before the vote had favored Kurti. Some voters said they did not expect the vote to bring significant change.
“There wouldn’t be great joy if Kurti wins, nor would there be if the opposition wins. This country needs drastic changes, and I don’t see that change coming,” said Edi Krasiqi, a doctor.
A man walks as voters wait in line during a snap parliamentary election, nearly a year after a political deadlock that prevented the formation of a new government, in Pristina, Kosovo, on 28th December, 2025. PICTURE: Reuters/Florion Goga
Kurti urged people to vote
After casting his ballot at a polling station in Pristina, Kurti urged people to vote, saying higher turnout would bolster the parliament’s legitimacy.
“Once the election result is known, we will do everything we know and can to constitute the parliament as soon as possible and to proceed with a new government,” he said.
Turnout was 45 per cent, according to the results.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 with US backing, including a 1999 NATO bombing campaign against Serbian forces trying to crush an uprising by the 90 per cent ethnic Albanian majority.
Despite international support, the country of 1.6 million has struggled with poverty, instability and organised crime. Kurti’s tenure, which began in 2021, was the first time a Pristina government completed a full term.
Tensions with Serbia flared in 2023, prompting the EU to impose sanctions on Kosovo. The bloc said this month it would lift them after ethnic Serb mayors were elected in northern municipalities, but the measures likely cost Kosovo hundreds of millions of euros.