Overview
- Voters returned to the polls on December 28 after the February election left no governing majority and more than 50 failed attempts to elect a parliamentary speaker.
- Observers expect Albin Kurti’s Vetëvendosje to finish first again yet likely short of an outright majority, with diaspora participation seen as influential among more than two million eligible voters.
- The parliamentary standstill has blocked the 2026 budget, raising concerns over public-sector salaries and pensions, while the EU froze substantial aid that Brussels has signaled could be partially restored next year.
- Kurti focused on economic messaging in a two‑week campaign, citing a 4% growth outlook and proposing €100 payments to retirees and families, which PDK and LDK denounced as “election corruption.”
- If no coalition emerges, the looming presidential vote in March and the expiry of President Vjosa Osmani’s term in April could push Kosovo back into institutional crisis.