Fatos Bytyci, February 10, 2025
Kosovo's Prime Minister and leader of the ruling Vetevendosje party Albin Kurti addresses supporters as exit polls show the party is set to come first in the parliamentary election, in Pristina, Kosovo February 10, 2025. REUTERS/Florion Goga
PRISTINA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Kosovo looked set for a period of political uncertainty on Monday as the major political parties ruled out coalition building after an election in which the ruling party fell short of an outright majority.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti's Vetevendosje party won 41.1% of votes with 97% of ballots counted, election commission results showed, drawing celebrations in Pristina after an acrimonious campaign in which fines for misconduct trebled over the last election.
At stake was the future of Kosovo's policies in its ethnically divided north and relations with its traditional allies the European Union and the U.S., both of which have expressed opposition to Kurti's rule.
Political analysts said that Kurti would have to form a coalition with either the second-placed Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which won 22.2% of the vote, or the Democratic League of Kosovo party (LDK), which had 17.8%.
But that appeared unlikely on Monday. In his victory speech in the early hours, Kurti, who ruled out forming a coalition before the election, called the opposition "animals" and "thieves" ready to make a deal "with the devil" against his government.
PDK leader Bedri Hamza said his party will not partner with Vetevendosje. "We have a lot of differences, they want absolute power," he said in a press conference on Monday.
He suggested that his party will try to form a coalition, although this would require partnering with at least three other smaller parties.
Third-placed LDK said it would wait for the final results before announcing its plans. It ruled out a coalition with Kurti before the vote.
Kosovo, which is majority ethnic Albanian, is Europe's newest country, and one of its poorest. It gained independence from Serbia in 2008 with backing from the U.S. after a 78-day NATO bombing campaign against Serbian forces in 1999.
Politics is still dominated by the relationship with neighbouring Serbia and Serbs within its borders.
Kurti, a leftist and Albanian nationalist, has sought to extend government control over the north, where about 50,000 ethnic Serbs live, many of whom refuse to recognise Kosovo's independence.
That worries moderates who fear a return to the ethnic violence that has blighted the area in recent years. Kurti's moves to reduce ethnic Serbs' autonomy have isolated it from the European Union and the United States.
© 2025 Reuters.