Snap parliamentary elections are being held in Kosovo today. This is the third parliamentary vote in the country in the last 18 months against the backdrop of an ongoing severe political crisis.
The main reason for the early vote is the failure of parliament to elect a successor to the incumbent president Vjosa Osmani within the constitutional deadline. The vote of two-thirds of the deputies (80 out of 120 seats) is required to elect a head of state. Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his "Self-Determination" party have failed to reach a compromise with the opposition, which is boycotting the sessions.
After the deadline expired in late April, parliament was automatically dissolved by acting president Albulena Haxhiu. The current prime minister, who resigned, leads the center-left nationalist party. He accuses the opposition of creating an "artificial crisis". In the previous vote in December 2025, his party won a convincing 51.1%, but it was not enough to elect a president on its own.
The incumbent president and former ally of Kurti, Vjosa Osmani, is now directly confronting him after he refused to support her for a second term. She is running on the opposition LDK list and accuses Kurti of trying to impose complete institutional control and sow division in society.
Other important players are the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), led by Bedri Hamza, and the "Serbian List" (SL), which traditionally fights for guaranteed Serb seats in parliament.
The elections are attended by over 900 candidates from 17 parties and 3 coalitions, competing for 120 seats in the Assembly of Kosovo. The number of registered voters is 2.1 million people - a figure larger than the permanent population of Kosovo (1.6 million), due to the huge emigration to Western Europe. The diaspora has started voting in advance and traditionally strongly supports Kurti's party.
Political analyses by Reuters and DW do not predict a serious shift in electoral attitudes. “Self-Determination“ is expected to win the vote again, but without the necessary majority to overcome the political deadlock. If the parties again refuse to compromise, the country risks entering an endless election cycle. This chronic instability has already frozen key financial funds from the European Union Growth Plan worth hundreds of millions of euros and has blocked integration talks.