Kosovo faces third legislative election in just over a year

Kosovo’s failure to elect a president has again plunged the nation into political deadlock. Now, it could face its third parliamentary election in just over a year. The country's international reputation is taking a hit.

Kosovo, Europe’s youngest country and the second-smallest nation in the Western Balkans with a population of 1.7 million, has fallen short of political and institutional stability for more than a year. Following two parliamentary elections in 2025, which Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his left-leaning Self-Determination party, Vetevendosje, won decisively, it is now the presidential election that is fanning the crisis.

Current President Vjosa Osmani's term ends on April 4. A new head of state must be elected by the parliament. However, the opposition parties in parliament are refusing to cooperate. Kurti, they say, already leads the government and also appoints the Speaker of Parliament from within his party's ranks. Now, they fear their country may additionally get a head of state from Kurti’s Self-Determination party as well ― too much for the opposition.

Eighty of the 120 votes in the Kosovar Parliament are required to elect the head of state. However, Kurti — together with representatives of the non-Serbian national minorities who are part of his governing coalition — has only 66 votes. This forces the Self-Determination party to reach a consensus with other parties.

Kurti nominated Glauk Konjufca, deputy chair of the Self-Determination party, as a presidential candidate alongside a female candidate who also hails from his own party, Fatmire Kollcaku. Both were to be put forward for election at the parliamentary session on March 5, 2026 — the last day of the constitutional deadline. The opposition didn't field its own candidate and boycotted the session, which effectively resulted in the failure of the election.

The constitution stipulates that a head of state must be elected no later than 30 days before the end of the term. As President Vjosa Osmani’s term concludes on April 4, 2026, her successor should have been elected by March 5. Since the election failed, new parliamentary elections must be held in keeping with the constitution.

What are the constitutional consequences?

Incumbent President Osmani was once an ally of Kurti but did not gain his support for another five-year term. She expressed her regret that the presidential election failed over the "inability of political parties to act in the interests of the citizens."

She subsequently issued a decree to dissolve parliament. Prime Minister Kurti, who also leads the Self-Determination party , put the decree to the constitutional court. On March 9, the court issued a provisional order suspending the decree until March 31 and blocking all further action, including any moves by parliament.

The president and the prime minister have differing takes on the constitutional implications and deadlines related to the failed presidential election. In particular, they disagree on when parliament can be dissolved and how the deadlines for new elections should be interpreted. Kurti argues that the "30-day period before the end of the term marks the beginning, not the end, of the electoral process."

An institutional vacuum looms in Kosovo

According to Kurti's logic, parliament would still have 60 days after March 5 to elect a new president. The complexity of the issue makes it difficult for the constitutional court to reach a quick, final decision. During this time, an institutional vacuum could arise, explains Korab Sejdiu, a lawyer and expert in constitutional law.

Parliamentary elections had already been fraught. Despite its election victory in February 2025, the Self-Determination party was unable to form a parliamentary majority for months, as the opposition parties refused to form a coalition with Kurti.

As a result, new elections were held on December 28, 2025. Cornering more than 51% of the vote, the Self-Determination party was able to convene the new parliament in mid-January 2026 and finally form a government. However, the election of the president, which was on the parliamentary agenda immediately afterward, failed — primarily due to political wrangling.

'Political elite is undermining Kosovo's constitutional system'

Kosovo’s electoral system and constitution are designed to promote political cooperation and a willingness to compromise, explains Ismet Kryeziu, head of the civil society network Democracy in Action (KDI). The system is based on "consensus democracy, while our political practice is often more hierarchical and individualistic."

This makes it practically impossible for a single party to govern alone.

Another expert on political developments, Naim Rashiti of the think tank Balkan Policy Research Group, tells DW that "the current political elite in Kosovo has huge problems with the country’s political and constitutional system and is fundamentally undermining it." 

Rashiti warns that Kosovo is losing its international standing and has lost much of its international support.

"It remains a vulnerable and unstable country that, in the eyes of its allies, is doing too little to achieve integration and international recognition," he said. "The crises are preventing the country from establishing normal relations with the EU, implementing reforms, and making progress in its dialogue with Serbia. International criticism is growing, and it will take a long time to improve its image.” 

This article was originally published in German.