Why the Kosovo government annoys the West and what parliamentary election will change
On 9 February, parliamentary elections in the Republic of Kosovo are set to be held.
Kosovo usually appears in international news in connection with another escalation of tensions with Serbia, a country that considers Kosovo its territory, or due to terrorist attacks and protests by ethnic Serbs in northern Kosovo.
One of the key reasons for these conflicts is the policy of the current Kosovo government, led by Albin Kurti, aimed at strengthening state control over the north, where ethnic Serbs live.
The elections in Kosovo will serve as a kind of referendum on whether Kosovars support this course, even at the cost of some deterioration in relations with the West.
The issue becomes even more relevant with Donald Trump’s return to the White House.
Read more about the challenges facing Kosovo in the article by Volodymyr Tsybulnyk, a Western Balkans expert, and Yurii Panchenko, European Pravda's editor – Election at risk of "painful compromises." Why the vote in Kosovo matters to Ukraine.
The main contender for victory in the parliamentary elections is the Self-Determination Movement (Vetëvendosje – LVV), led by incumbent Prime Minister Albin Kurti.
The party and its leader maintain significant public support, as Kurti’s populism falls on fertile ground. He defends Kosovo’s independence in negotiations with Serbia and systematically implements decisions to strengthen the country’s sovereignty.
It was during his government that Kosovo obtained visa-free travel with the EU (effective from 1 January 2024) and came close to joining the Council of Europe.
Equally important, Kurti ended the operation of parallel Serbian state institutions in the Serb-majority municipalities in the north. These steps enjoy strong public support but have provoked dissatisfaction from the EU and the US.
For this reason, the deterioration of relations with strategic allies is one of the main criticisms leveled at Kurti by the opposition.
Kurti’s chances of victory are further boosted by the fact that his two main rivals, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (DPK) and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), are currently in weak positions.
Even another notable opposition force, the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), is unlikely to gain significant traction despite its contacts with Trump’s former envoy, Richard Grenell. But who knows...
Regardless of the election outcome, the new (or returning) government will have to tackle a series of challenges.
The first and foremost is resolving the crisis in northern Kosovo.
Local Serbs (backed by Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić) are demanding the establishment of the Association of Serb Municipalities. The creation of this body was agreed upon in multiple deals signed by Kosovo and Serbia under EU mediation, starting with the 2013 Brussels Agreement.
This obligation, however, was undertaken before Kurti came to power and is absolutely unacceptable to him. Nonetheless, the West remains reluctant to revise the agreements.
Meanwhile, Russia is highly interested in keeping the Kosovo-Serbia deadlock unresolved. By echoing Serbian claims, the Kremlin fuels instability throughout the Western Balkans.
Such a foreign policy environment directly hinders Kosovo’s development.
Finally, Kosovo’s new government may face pressure from Donald Trump, who, during his first term, proposed a peace agreement between Kosovo and Serbia based on territorial exchange, a proposal firmly rejected by both Kosovo and the EU.
In such a scenario, a strong electoral mandate will be a crucial argument for the new government in resisting this pressure.