Previous year on Kosovo it brought three election cycles - regular parliamentary and local elections, and one extraordinary parliamentary election. The balance of the regular parliamentary elections held in February 2025 speaks for itself: the final election results were announced a month and a half after the elections were held, the Kosovo Assembly was blocked for almost eight months, and the Government was not formed even after two attempts.
The first proposal for the prime minister was Albin Kurti, the current prime minister of Kosovo in a technical mandate and the leader of the Self-Determination Movement. The second candidate was Gljauk Konjufca, the former president of the Kosovo Assembly. In the end, Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, in accordance with the Constitution of Kosovo, had to call for early elections. Repeated parliamentary elections were held near the end of the year - on December 28.
The questions that were asked were whether these elections will only repeat the results of the previous ones and what will happen to the "blocked" institutions. When it comes to the Serbian community, will the Serbian List manage to regain one mandate, the one that in the previous elections went to Nenad Rašić, the leader of the party for freedom, justice and survival and the former minister for communities and return in Kurti's government.
According to the preliminary results of the Central Election Commission of Kosovo (CEC), the total turnout in these elections was 45,36 percent, which is about five percent more than in the elections in February. In the December elections, Self-Determination won about 50,50 percent, that is, 461.698 votes - almost 65 more than in February, when 396.787 votes were cast for this party.
The total number of deputies in the Kosovo parliament is 120, of which ten seats are reserved for Serbs, and 61 mandates are required for the majority. Although the Serbian List announced that according to the preliminary results, it secured 10 mandates, and this was later confirmed by the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, in the show "Hit Tweet" on "Pink" TV, analysts claim the opposite. According to preliminary voting results, Srpska Lista, which won 42.017 votes, will probably have nine mandates, while one will go to Rašić, whose party for freedom, justice and survival won a total of 4776 votes.
Dragiša Mijačić, director of the Institute for Territorial Economic Development (InTER) and coordinator of the Working Group of the National Convention on the EU for Chapter 35, told "Vreme" that, when it comes to the return of the mandate to Rašić, Srpska Lista has the right to appeal the election results, because Rašić received a certain number of votes in areas where Serbs do not live. "According to the legally established instruments in Kosovo, those votes cannot be counted in the total number of votes won," Mijačić explains, adding that the Serbian List would receive that legal procedure, if it files a complaint and if it fights for its rights within the judicial institutions, which has not been the case so far.
VICTORY OF ALJBIN KURTI - SURPRISE
Before the extraordinary parliamentary elections, most analysts claimed that the results would be identical to February's due to the blockade of institutions, and because of which the USA suspended the Strategic Dialogue with Kosovo indefinitely. In mid-December, the European Union decided to abolish all punitive measures against Kosovo by the end of January 2026. Was the victory of Self-Determination a surprise then?
Political scientist Aljbinot Maljoku tells "Vreme" that the result of Self-Determination in the December elections is a surprise, even for the party. "Although it could be expected that Self-Determination will be the relative winner of the election, the amount of support the party received exceeds realistic expectations, taking into account the political and institutional circumstances of the previous period," says Maljoku. He further explains that during the previous four years, Kosovo and its citizens have been going through a series of political, economic and institutional challenges, further deepened by the blockade in the process of forming institutions after the February 2025 elections.
Maljoku points out that this outcome was influenced by several factors: "First of all, the opposition political parties failed to offer a convincing and credible alternative. Their inability to clearly position themselves as potential holders of power was additionally reinforced by the strong and continuous propaganda of Self-Determination, which presented the opponents as politically undecided, fragmented and incapable of institutional cooperation - both with Self-Determination and with each other." Our interlocutor also states that the diaspora plays a significant role, which to a large extent formed political assessments on the basis of the messages put out by Self-Determination, and less on the basis of direct insight into the situation inside Kosovo. "To that should be added the diaspora's long-standing dissatisfaction with the policies of previous governments that led other political options. This dissatisfaction, which arose as a result of economic insecurity and lack of perspective, had a direct impact on their electoral behavior," Maljoku points out.
He adds that Belgrade's actions through Srpska list also had an impact, especially through political and security activities in the north of Kosovo.
Finally, Maljoku concludes: "This election result should be viewed in a broader regional context. In the countries of the Western Balkans, there is still a strong presence of a political culture that favors authoritarian or highly personalized models of government. In this sense, Aljbin Kurti fits into the broader regional pattern of leaders like Edi Rama, Hristijan Mickoski and Aleksandar Vučić, where political power is concentrated around strong personalities, not institutions."
WHAT CAN THE THIRD GOVERNMENT OF ALJBINA KURTI BRING??
To this question, Maljoku answers that he does not know which citizen of Kosovo will be surprised by the work of the new government in the fight against political and family nepotism, for the establishment of meritocracy or the fight against financial malfeasance.
"Kosovo is a country with great needs, both internally - in terms of economic stabilization, strengthening of education and healthcare (according to the Kosovo system, first. aut.), the rise in prices that affects the family economy - as well as the most sensitive problem, which is energy", explains our interlocutor.
Maljko also emphasizes that on the external front, the priority is to strengthen "Kosovo through membership in the Council of Europe, the Partnership for Peace, new recognitions, as well as work on a lifelong goal - membership in NATO and the European Union. These are issues of particular importance. I do not know to what extent the Government of Kurti three will succeed in realizing all these goals."
PRESSURE ON THE SERBIAN COMMUNITY
Dragiša Mijačić points out that Kurti is obsessed with Serbia, and that he sees it as Kosovo's arch-enemy, and that this will not change under his third government.
"He sees the Serbs in Kosovo as an instrument of Serbia, therefore as an enemy element whose actions must be limited. In this sense, even more institutional pressures on the Serbian community and a reduction in the application of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution of Kosovo and the obligations arising from the Brussels Agreement are expected," explains Mijačić.
He adds that he should not be surprised if Kurti "violates the Constitution again and nominates Nenad Rašić for the ministerial position that is guaranteed to the political entity that wins the most votes from the Serbian community, or if the vice-president of the Kosovo Assembly is not elected from the ranks of the Serbian List". He reminds that during the constitution of the Assembly of Kosovo this year, Rašić was elected as vice president from the Serbian community, with one elected mandate, and after several failures to vote for a member from the Serbian list.
"Also, we are entering a phase in which the international pressure on Kurti's unilateral acts will be less than it has been the case so far: the European Union has abolished punitive measures, the USA will not appoint an ambassador to Pristina for a long time, and Great Britain and Germany are giving firm support to his government all the time, so, on the wings of such circumstances, Kurti will probably continue with his current policy towards the Serbian community", emphasizes Mijačić.
He further reminds that Kurti, in order for Kosovo to become a member of the Council of Europe, must submit a request for an assessment of the constitutionality of the European draft statute for the Union of Municipalities with a Serbian majority (ZSO). "Given that Kosovo's request for membership in this European organization can be reconsidered at the ministerial conference in May 2026, we will find out very soon whether Kurti's third government will introduce any new behavior compared to the previous two," our interlocutor points out.
The formation of the ZSO is an international obligation ratified by the Assembly of Kosovo, emphasizes Mijačić, and says that Kurti will not be able to escape from it. "The second question is what form and scope of competence the ZSO will have."
The integration of the health and education system into the Kosovo system is another key issue for the Serbian community, which was raised by Rašić during the pre-election campaign for local elections. Mijačić says that this was also discussed in the conclusions of the Council of the European Union adopted in December last year.
"Health and education will be resolved within the package for the formation of the ZSO and in accordance with the European model of the ZSO Statute. The key question is whether Kurti will stick to this trajectory or will go his own way again. In the case of the latter, the question arises as to what will be the reaction of the Quinte countries to the unilateral actions that will probably follow. Also, a lot depends on the reaction of the Serbian community, especially its political representatives, but also the officials in Belgrade, who have been quite passive regarding all these issues so far," concludes Dragiša Mijačić.
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