“Workplaces, economy, that's what voters said in polls” Howuvenier shows what affected the VV's fall

Former US ambassador to Kosovo, who finished office in December 2024, Jeff Havenier in a recent interview, has commented, among other things, on the outcome of parliamentary elections that were held last Sunday.

Speaking at “Athlantic Council”, the US diplomat has stressed that Vetevendosje did not get the necessary number to form the government alone, and that a large number of people look to the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Democratic League of Kosovo for leadership.

“Vetevendosje and Albin Kurti have so far received the highest number of votes, but have not received votes to form the government alone.

But the next point I would stress is that the parties that led before Vetevendosje still stand well with the Kosovo public. The PDK and the LDK, although the PDK did a little better, were both around 20 percent, showing that there are a large number of people in Kosovo who see these leadership parties...”, he said.

Hovenier has also talked about signals given by political parties about possible coalitions:

“What we have seen in this election, there are still a large number of people supporting Vetevendosje, but not half of the country. And coalitions in politics have been part of Kosovo for a long time. What will be interesting now is this decline in support of Vetevendosje... what the coalition will look like, how difficult or easy it is. In the past, people have also expected the parties to come together on key issues for the good of the state. But the signals from all the actions are that past behaviors are not expected to occur in”, Hoovenier said.

The former American ambassador has been asked whether the strained relations between the government led by Albin Kurti and the United States of America may have affected his party's decline in these elections.

However, he said that according to polls he has seen, citizens want jobs, developed economies, health and education.

It's hard for me to say, the survey I've seen suggested that the issues that voters were most interested in were not relations with the US, relations with the EU, or dialogue. It was the job, it was the economy, it was health, education, creating a future where the new generation feels like there's a chance to stay, work, live and succeed... that seems to be what most voters in the surveys said”, Houvenier showed.