Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s party has won parliamentary elections but failed to secure the majority needed to end a long-running political crisis, Reuters reports.
Kosovo, the youngest and one of Europe’s poorest countries, held its third election in 18 months on the 7th of June. The country is seeking to join the European Union but has been without a functioning government for most of the past year. Deep divisions in parliament have prevented the election of a speaker of parliament and the selection of a head of state.
Official results, with 99.4% of votes counted, show Kurti’s party winning 43% of the vote. To form a coalition, it will need to find partners and also reach an agreement with its rivals to build a two-thirds majority to elect a new president. Kurti’s party won 51% of the vote last December but was unable to agree on a presidential candidate with other parties, and parliament dissolved in April, forcing a new election.
Turnout was less than 37% of eligible voters (down from 45% in December). Voters polled at the polls said they were tired of repeat elections and wanted an end to political stagnation.
Voters also said they wanted higher living standards and economic growth.
The EU has urged politicians in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008, to build strong institutions capable of implementing the reforms needed to join the bloc. Repeated elections have delayed reforms, and EU funds, in the country.
Kurti’s party first came to power in 2021, offering a more nationalist and welfare-oriented approach. Like other major parties in Kosovo, it is pro-European. It opposes further concessions to Serbia, with which relations remain strained.
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