Amid price hikes, citizens open wallets for parties

Even the recent local elections, held on October 12th and the second round on November 9th 2025, were no exception.

Out of 10 to 2,000 euros, scores of citizens, members and sympathies for the biggest political parties in the country donated: Vetevendosje movement, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, the Democratic League of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo.

The Central Election Commission (KQZ) published unexplained reports of the political subject' financial declaration for the local election campaign this month.

Radio Free Europe contacted through social networks by two citizens who donated donations to Vetevendosje, The PDK and the LDK, but despite the insistence, no one agreed to answer whether their gesture was simply genuine political support, or there was any other reason.

Donations That Are Not Always Political Support

According to civil society representatives and economic experts, giving money to political parties does not always stem from ideological conviction.

Altin Ademi from the anti-corruption organisation “Arise” says that although part of the citizens contribute as an expression of political support, the lack of a clear tradition of programming profile makes these donations perceived as investment for future favours.

“in a context where institutional trust is fragile, donations can also be seen as a way to maintain proximity to power or to create expectations for direct or indirect benefits. For this reason, granting donations is not always a clear expression of political obedience”, Ademi tells Free Europe Radio.

Even economics professor Shkumbin Misini estimates that the motives are different: from the expectations of employment in public institutions to “Fugitive” towards the party he hired earlier.

“... of a smaller group due to connections and loyalty to party leader”, according to him.

How are political parties financed?

Parties in Kosovo are financed by two main sources -- the state budget and donors, which include physical and legal persons.

Public financing is realised through the Policy Support Fund, which is around fivem euros.

The division takes place according to representation of parties in the Kosovo Assembly, which has 120 seats, but, by law, they have the right to accept additional contributions to the campaign, even from physical and legal persons.

Physical individuals can donate up to 2,000 euros a year, while legal persons can donate up to 10,000 euros, including contributions to goods and services.

Parties in Kosovo are financed by two main sources -- the state budget and donors, which include physical and legal persons.

Public financing is realised through the Policy Support Fund, which is around fivem euros.

The division takes place according to representation of parties in the Kosovo Assembly, which has 120 seats, but, by law, they have the right to accept additional contributions to the campaign, even from physical and legal persons.

Physical individuals can donate up to 2,000 euros a year, while legal persons can donate up to 10,000 euros, including contributions to goods and services.

How many gathered and how much did parties spend?

According to CEC reports, the Vetevendosje Movement -- as the largest party in the country -- raised 36.680 euros from citizen donations. Much of the funding, it had from the state budget about 567 thousand euros.

But its campaign spending amounted to about 992 thousand euros, so the party remained on a debt of nearly 388 thousand euros.

The PDK collected over 25 thousand euros in donations from citizens, as well as 223 thousand euros in contributions to goods and services. In all, this party had about 248 thousand euros available, while the campaign cost around 272 thousand euros.

The LDK reported only 7,750 euros in donations from citizens and 15,790 euros in contributions totaled 23.540 euros, while the campaign cost about 203 thousand euros.

The AAK only benefited 1,000 euros in donations from one member and 5,200 euros in contributions to goods and services, as well as about 800,000 euros from the state budget. Campaign spending had more than 61 thousand euros.

The Serbian list ʹ the largest party of Serbs in Kosovo reported neither donations nor contributions, but spent about 334 thousand euros, out of which 155 thousand presented them as budgetary revenues.

Reports that don't reflect reality?

According to Adem and Missin, reported values often do not reflect the real situation on the ground.

“There is the danger that individual donations will be used as a cover for other sources of financing, through sharing large sums in smaller donations or the use of third persons”, Ademi warns.

Missin adds that such practices are present in Kosovo and that they pose a serious risk to the integrity of the election process.

The most common “Forme includes cash ready, cleaning it up, distributing it into different names and depositing it to the employees”, he says.

This, according to Misin, also creates a hidden policy dependency on interest groups, and affects transparency and accountability.

In this context, both experts say financing political parties remains one of the most sensitive areas for democracy in Kosovo.

Without real transparency, institutional supervision and continued public information, the risk of influence of interest groups remains high, they say.

Last year's Transperency International report estimated that Kosovo has made slight progress in fighting corruption, while in 2023, the country was mentioned in the US State Department report on government corruption.

Financing political parties even in the world

The financing of political parties by individuals is not the practice of Kosovo alone.

In most Western democracies, citizens have the legal right to support financially parties or candidates representing their political beliefs.

In the United States, for example, individuals can give thousands of dollars to presidential candidates, congressers or political parties, while the law also allows the creation of so-called Political Action Committees ( PACEs, which can collect huge sums to support campaigns.

While these facilities are legal, they are often the object of criticism, as large donors ] businessmen, corporations or influential individuals can exert unfair pressure on public policies.

In Kosovo, political subjects are obliged by law to hand over the financial report to the CEC no later than 30 days after the certificate of final results.

According to experts, the challenge for the country is not to stop donations, but to build a system where every euro given for politics is verifiable and reasonable for the public.

This discussion takes place as Kosovo, for nearly a year, functions with institutions in office, without political stability and full decision-making.

Furthermore, the results of the December 28th early elections have not yet been certified, as serious disagreements in the votes for MPs forced the CEC to order full recount in all polls.

This institutional delay occurs at a time when citizens face inflation and increasingly higher cost of living. According to the Kosovo Statistics Agency, consumer prices in December 2025 averaged 5.3% higher compared to the same period in 2024. / REL/