PRISTINA: Kosovo will hold elections on December 28 after a year-long political stalemate that led to the dissolution of parliament and left a 1-billion-euro hole in the small Balkan country’s shaky finances. Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s Vetevendosje party won the last election in February, but failed to secure a majority or find a willing coalition party after an acrimonious campaign. Many fear a repeat could throw Europe’s newest state into further crisis, just four months before parliament must vote for a new president and as deadlines loom to ratify international loans.
“These elections will be the most important ones in recent Kosovo history because they are coming after one year of deadlock, but also four months before a new president will be elected,” said political analyst Artan Muhaxhiri. “If Kurti wins again with around 42 per cent, all this deadlock will be repeated, because the gap between Kurti and other parties is huge, unbridgeable.” It appears unlikely that any of the major opposition parties will be willing to form a government with Kurti, who they say has stoked tensions with Kosovo’s ethnic Serb minority in the north, done little to improve living standards, and tarnished Kosovo’s reputation abroad. — Reuters
