{"id":4623,"date":"2025-12-28T08:35:52","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T08:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/28\/kosovo-votes-in-snap-election-in-bid-to-end-a-year-of-political-deadlock\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T08:35:52","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T08:35:52","slug":"kosovo-votes-in-snap-election-in-bid-to-end-a-year-of-political-deadlock","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/28\/kosovo-votes-in-snap-election-in-bid-to-end-a-year-of-political-deadlock\/","title":{"rendered":"Kosovo votes in snap election in bid to end a year of political deadlock"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>The Balkan nation votes again as PM Albin Kurti seeks majority to break the stalemate and form a government.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Kosovo is voting to elect a new parliament for the second time in 11 months, as nationalist Prime Minister Albin Kurti\u2019s party seeks a majority to end a yearlong political deadlock.<\/p>\n<p>Polls opened at 7am local time (06:00 GMT) and will close at 7pm (18:00 GMT) on Sunday, with exit polls expected soon after voting \u200cends.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/2\/9\/kosovo-votes-in-election-seen-as-referendum-on-pm-albin-kurti\">PM Albin Kurti declares victory in Kosovo election<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/11\/30\/kosovo-pm-blames-serbia-for-explosion-at-canal-supplying-power-plants\">Kosovo police arrest eight people over canal explosion blamed on Serbia<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/people-power\/2024\/9\/5\/kosovo-the-making-of-a-state-part-1\">Kosovo: The Making of a State<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The snap parliamentary vote was called after Prime Minister Albin Kurti\u2019s Self-Determination Movement (LVV) party failed to form a government despite winning the most votes at a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/2\/9\/kosovo-votes-in-election-seen-as-referendum-on-pm-albin-kurti\">February 9 ballot<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>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 euros ($1.2bn) in loan agreements from the European Union and \u200dWorld Bank that expire \u2060in the coming months.<\/p>\n<p>The Balkan country\u2019s opposition parties have refused to govern with Kurti, criticising his handling of ties with Western allies and his approach to Kosovo\u2019s ethnically divided north, where a Serb minority lives.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4199499\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4199499\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AFP__20251224__88YE7PQ__v2__HighRes__TopshotKosovoPoliticsElection-1766901384.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C513&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"Kosovo's acting Prime Minister and leader of the Vetevendosje (LVV) party, Albin Kurti, gestures as he speaks during an interview with AFP in Pristina on December 24, 2025. Kosovo and Serbia \"need to normalise\" their relationship, the acting Prime Minister of Kosovo told AFP in an interview just days before legislative elections in which he will put his mandate on the line.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4199499\">Kosovo\u2019s acting PM and leader of the LVV party, Albin Kurti [File: Armend Nimani\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Despite international support, the country of 1.6 million has struggled with poverty, instability and organised crime. Kurti\u2019s tenure, which began \u200cin 2021, was the first time a Pristina government completed a full term.<\/p>\n<p>To woo voters, Kurti has pledged an additional month of salary per year for public sector workers, 1 billion euros per year in capital investment and a new prosecution unit to fight organised crime. \u200bOpposition parties have also promised to focus on improving living standards.<\/p>\n<p>Opinion polls are \u200cnot published in Kosovo, leaving the outcome uncertain. Many voters say they are disillusioned.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere wouldn\u2019t be great joy if Kurti wins, nor would there be if the opposition wins. This country needs drastic changes, and I don\u2019t see that change \u200ccoming,\u201d Edi Krasiqi, a doctor, told Reuters news agency.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"tensions-with-serbia\">Tensions with Serbia<\/h2>\n<p>Formerly a province of Serbia, Kosovo, whose population is almost exclusively Albanian, declared independence from Serbia in 2008 following an uprising and NATO intervention in 1999.<\/p>\n<p>It has been recognised by more than 100 countries, but not by Russia, Serbia, Greece or Spain. It is seen as a potential candidate for accession to the EU.<\/p>\n<p>Tensions with Serbia flared in 2023, prompting the EU to impose sanctions on Kosovo.<\/p>\n<p>The bloc said this month it \u200dwould lift them after ethnic Serb mayors were elected in northern municipalities, but the measures likely cost Kosovo hundreds of millions of euros.<\/p>\n<p>Kosovo remains one of the poorest countries in Europe. It is one of the six Western Balkan countries striving to eventually join the EU, but both Belgrade and Pristina have been told they must first normalise relations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Balkan nation votes again as PM Albin Kurti seeks majority to break the stalemate and form a government. Kosovo is voting to elect a new parliament for the second time in 11 months, as nationalist Prime Minister Albin Kurti\u2019s party seeks a majority to end a yearlong political deadlock. Polls opened at 7am local &#8230; <a title=\"Kosovo votes in snap election in bid to end a year of political deadlock\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/28\/kosovo-votes-in-snap-election-in-bid-to-end-a-year-of-political-deadlock\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Kosovo votes in snap election in bid to end a year of political deadlock\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4624,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4623\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4624"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}