{"id":418276,"date":"2025-02-07T18:44:55","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T17:44:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2025\/02\/07\/elezioni-kosovo-albin-kurti-serbia\/"},"modified":"2025-02-07T19:26:38","modified_gmt":"2025-02-07T18:26:38","slug":"kosovo-sundays-vote-is-a-referendum-on-pm-kurti","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2025\/02\/07\/kosovo-sundays-vote-is-a-referendum-on-pm-kurti\/","title":{"rendered":"Kosovo, Sunday’s vote is a referendum on PM Kurti"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels – Kosovo to the polls<\/strong>. Next Sunday’s (Feb. 9) elections mark a key moment in the political life of the young Balkan nation and represent a de facto personal referendum<\/strong> on Premier Albin Kurti<\/strong>, who is being challenged by the parliamentary opposition, which, however,\u00a0remains disunited. The\u00a0election outcome will most likely determine Pristina’s\u00a0international alignment<\/strong>\u00a0for the coming years, especially concerning<\/span>\u00a0relations with Belgrade<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Outgoing\u00a0Prime Minister Albin Kurti<\/strong>\u00a0is the first\u00a0to reach the end of his term<\/strong>\u00a0since the country declared its\u00a0independence from Serbia in 2008<\/strong>. Four years ago, in February 2021, the leader of the centre-left\u00a0Movement for Self-Determination (<\/strong>Vet\u00ebvendosje<\/strong><\/em>, VV)<\/strong>\u00a0surprisingly overwhelmed his opponents, winning over\u00a050 per cent of the vote<\/strong>. Now, he wants to repeat the blow.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kurti is widely accused of not having worked hard enough to\u00a0obtain broader diplomatic recognition for Kosovo. <\/strong>This is\u00a0mainly due to tensions with neighbouring Serbia<\/strong>, which critics say the head of the government in Pristina has\u00a0intentionally reignited<\/strong>\u00a0during his tenure. He branded Belgrade a\u00a0proxy\u00a0for Moscow and\u00a0complained about the Western attitude<\/strong>\u00a0toward the Serbian authorities, which he deemed overly accommodating. His election campaign is mainly focused on\u00a0combating corruption<\/strong>,\u00a0full national independence,<\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0wall-to-wall relations with Serbia<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

His main challengers are Bedri Hamza<\/strong>, candidate of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (Partia Demokratike e Kosov\u00ebs<\/i>, PDK)<\/strong>, and the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (Lidhja Demokratike e Kosov\u00ebs<\/i>, LDK) Lumir Abdixhiku<\/strong>. The liberal-conservative LDK, which won 17 per cent of the vote four years ago, is focusing its\u00a0campaign on economic reforms<\/strong> and\u00a0strengthening<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Pristina’s international relations<\/strong>.\u00a0A more balanced approach to\u00a0<\/span>relations with Belgrade<\/strong>\u00a0is also being proposed by the centre-right LDK (12.7 per cent of the popular vote in 2021), with Abdixhiku arguing for the need to\u00a0<\/span>rebuild the country’s credibility<\/strong>\u00a0in general and\u00a0<\/span>relations with the West<\/strong>\u00a0in particular.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"proteste<\/a>
Massive protests in Serbia against President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107 (photo: Tadija Anastasijevic\/Afp)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

According to the polls,\u00a0<\/span>Kurti’s VV is still firmly in the lead<\/strong>\u00a0in voting intentions, with a virtual 52 per cent of support, while the PDK and LDK\u00a0<\/span>trudge<\/a> more than 30 points behind, placing them at 19 and 15 per cent, respectively.<\/span>\u00a0Opposition forces, including the\u00a0<\/span>Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (<\/strong>Aleanca p\u00ebr Ardhm\u00ebrin\u00eb and Kosov\u00ebs<\/strong><\/em>, AAK)<\/strong>, which hovers around 8 per cent, have so far failed to forge\u00a0<\/span>a united front against the outgoing premier<\/strong>, given the rivalry that persists between the parties.<\/span><\/p>\n

If the VV does not win an absolute majority, it will have to form a coalition, in which case a crucial bargaining chip could become the\u00a0presidency of the Republic<\/strong>. Kurti’s party partner, Vjosa Osmani<\/strong>, currently holds the post, but\u00a0her term expires in April 2026<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of the 120 seats in the Kuvendi, the single-chamber parliament in Pristina,\u00a020 are reserved for ethnic minorities<\/strong>, including 10 for the Serbian one.\u00a0Last December, the Kosovo Central Electoral Commission banned the\u00a0<\/span>Serbian List (<\/strong>Srpska list<\/strong><\/em>)<\/strong>\u00a0from competing the day after tomorrow, but the\u00a0<\/span>Electoral Complaints Commission (PZAP)<\/strong>\u00a0later\u00a0<\/a>overruled\u00a0<\/a>the<\/span>\u00a0decision.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The appointment with the ballot box comes at a time of particular international geopolitical tension<\/strong>, which is also reflected in the region. In addition to the massive protests underway in Serbia<\/strong>, where hundreds of thousands of citizens are asking<\/a>\u00a0for the resignation of President Aleksandar Vu\u010di\u0107<\/strong>, adding uncertainty in the Western Balkan context is also the new line taken in foreign policy by the White House after the return of Donald Trump<\/strong>. The shocking decision<\/a> to\u00a0freeze<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0USAID<\/strong> operations around the world strongly questions the U.S. presence in this corner of Europe, where Euro-Atlantic integration has historically played a key role in countering the influence of other actors<\/strong>, especially Vladimir Putin<\/strong>‘s Russia.<\/p>\n

\n

Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue: @EUCouncil<\/a> appoints Peter S\u00f8rensen as EU Special Representative @EUSR_Dialogue<\/a>, replacing @MiroslavLajcak<\/a> as of 1 Feb. for initial 13 months, to achieve comprehensive normalisation of the relations between Serbia & Kosovo(*)
\nhttps:\/\/t.co\/rnhXhRtrar<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 EU Council Press (@EUCouncilPress) January 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In late January, Danish diplomat Peter S\u00f8rensen<\/strong> was named<\/a> new EU special representative for the Belgrade-Pristina<\/strong> dialogue. The process has stalled for some time<\/strong>, given the Kosovar government’s less-than-conciliatory moves toward the Serb minority living in the country’s north, contributing to a general tightening of relations<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Five of the Union’s member states\u2014Cyprus,<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>Greece, Romania, Slovakia, and Spain<\/strong>\u2014have not recognized Kosovo<\/strong>\u00a0as a sovereign and independent country. At present, Pristina is considered a\u00a0“potential candidate” for European club membership<\/strong>. Still, Kurti’s<\/strong>\u00a0intransigent approach<\/strong>\u00a0has not brought the Balkan country any progress<\/strong> toward closer ties with Brussels. The\u00a0NATO KFOR<\/strong>\u00a0mission<\/strong>, in which Italian military personnel also participate, is still present in Kosovo.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Feb. 9, the citizens of the Balkan country will go to the polls to renew the parliament in a vote that may influence Pristina’s international standing. Outgoing Prime Minister Albin Kurti is the big favourite<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7876,"featured_media":418272,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25707],"tags":[26154,30408,30409,26071],"class_list":["post-418276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world-politics","tag-albin-kurti-en","tag-elections-kosovo-en","tag-peter-sorensen-and","tag-inserbia"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7876"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=418276"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":418283,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/418276\/revisions\/418283"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/418272"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=418276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=418276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=418276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}