Irregularities in the vote count from the early parliamentary vote in Kosovo on December 28, 2025 led to a recount at the national level, Kosovo media reported, quoted by BTA.
According to information from the newspaper “Koha Ditore“, the Kosovo Central Election Commission (CEC) decided at a meeting today to recount votes throughout Kosovo after its previous decision to count votes in only ten out of 38 municipalities plus 10 percent of the remaining 28 municipalities. The partial recount of ballots was carried out after complaints from political entities about alleged irregularities in the vote counting process.
During the partial recount, discrepancies were found, the largest of which were in the southwestern municipality of Prizren, the publication notes. In the preferential vote there, the candidates of the center-right Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) of Bedri Hamza received nearly 19 thousand votes more than the actual support given to them by the citizens, the center-right Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) of Lumir Abdixiku received an additional 4,500 invalid votes, and the ruling left-wing nationalist Movement "Self-Determination" (LVV) of Prime Minister Albin Kurti – additional 3,100 votes, the publication states.
The Prosecutor's Office of the Republic of Kosovo announced today that it has begun collecting information about the possible commission of crimes in connection with this process through the chief prosecutors in the municipalities where the recount took place, the newspaper also reported.
From the network of non-governmental organizations “Democracy in Action“ (DnV), quoted by the news agency “Economy Online“, said earlier today that a recount of the votes was “inevitable, especially now that the revelations (during this process) create sufficient grounds for the judicial authorities to address this issue with priority, in coordination and with a comprehensive investigation at the national level“.
The network added that if a recount is not carried out, it will deepen the crisis of confidence in the integrity of the electoral process in Kosovo.
“The recurring patterns of bias in favor of certain candidates within certain municipalities create reasonable grounds to suspect that these are not the results of human error or coincidence, but deliberate actions by members of the (election) commissions. "Therefore, even candidates who receive an advantage based on these discrepancies and manipulations should be investigated to clarify whether there was incitement, coordination or direct or indirect participation in vote manipulation," the network concluded in its response.
The leader of Kosovo's main opposition party, the PDK, Bedri Hamza, said earlier today that the discrepancies in the votes received in the preferential vote following the partial recount were "alarming" and called for the ballot counting process to start over for the entire country.
“Any delay or hesitation is a direct violation of the trust of citizens“, he said, quoted by “Economy Online“.
However, the recount of votes and the process of their certification may lead to new delays in the formation of the new institutions of the country, which fell into a political crisis after the regular parliamentary elections on February 9, 2025 and has been in a standstill for almost a year. Among other processes that have been put on hold, the country is currently operating with an extended budget.
According to political analysts and economic experts quoted by the Kosovo Radio and Television, if the country enters the end of February 2026 without an approved budget, Kosovo is seriously risking its economic and social stability.
Political scientist Artan Muhaxhiri reminded the media that last year's crisis should not be repeated. According to him, "last year's blockade crossed all limits and should not be allowed to repeat".
Economist Safet Garxhaliu is also critical of the situation. He stated that the problems of 2025 are already being carried over into 2026, creating negative consequences in several directions. He warned that the lack of an approved budget and the institutional vacuum are weakening the state's work, and capital projects planned for 2026 have been suspended.
Gardxhaliu added that without functioning institutions and with the calculations for political posts, the country risks economic and social collapse, which would seriously harm Kosovo.