Kosovo is approaching a scenario similar to Bulgaria that passed seven election cycles”

A quick return to the polls, not as a result of a political election, but as a result of a crisis that policymakers failed to resolve.

“This is their immatureness, both in the state and in the face of the storm of developments that have swept the world”, estimates to Radio Free Europe political analyst Ilir Deda.

On June 7th, the most distant Kosovo citizens will again be in parliamentary elections, for the third time within 16 months.

This process became inevitable on April 28th, just four months after the December 28th elections, when MPs failed to elect the president, automatically activating the constitutional deadline leading the country to elections within 45 days.

The ruling party, the Vetevendosje Movement, accused the opposition of deliberately boycotting the sessions, while opposition parties blamed power for lack of co-operation and for efforts to focus power on a single hand.

Kosovo, to have new president, must have new opposition. The opposition is old. This opposition may bring any new faces, but its old craft and character, and is also in free fall”, Prime Minister Albin Kurti, at the latest session of the tenth legislature, said.

The two main opposition parties, The PDK and the LDK welcomed the move to new elections, though, according to the LDK chairman, they were imposed by power, which, with a majority of 51 percent, demanded “subservation<x1).

“Now is the time for the unification of the good people of this country, who want a normal Kosovo, without drama, without propaganda...”, Lumir Abdixhiku wrote on Facebook.

A Repeated Crisis - Not a New episode

This situation is not new for Kosovo.

A similar scenario was repeated immediately after the February 9th 2025 elections, when the Parliament remained unstuffed for months and, in the end, government formation failed.

Even then, the responsibility was split between the parties, with accusations ranging from one to the other.

For Deda, the situation is no longer isolated episode, but a pattern that is taking shape.

He warns that Kosovo is approaching a scenario similar to Bulgaria, which in the past five years has gone through seven successive election cycles, without producing institutional stability.

The “were not expected after the December 28th elections, when the Vetevendosje Movement won 51 per cent of the vote, we would reach this situation”, he says.

In his analysis, the problem lies, not in the political system, but in the way it is used.

Kosovo, says Deda, has an advanced institutional framework, but it is becoming a crash instrument, rather than serving as a basis for stability.

The main responsibility, he attributes to the largest party, which, it says, has had real opportunities to build institutional stability.

Deda considers this crisis to have been easily avoided.

“Parties have been able to discuss what the president wants: a figure that has started political activity since the years BAR90s, reflecting Kosovo's journey and statehood; an image linked to the KLA, as countering the process in The Hague; or a figure looking to the future”, Deda says.

Instead, he considers the debate turned into a political game to point the finger at the culprits and to “backed up the alibi” for avoiding responsibility.

Deda warns that, being in this trajectory, Kosovo risks staying out of important global developments, while perception of it as a fragile state can have long-term consequences both in relation to international partners and to civic trust.

I only hope that after new elections there will be a maturity of policy and strengthening of the culture of consensus”, Deda says.

On the contrary, according to him, the election cycle may not stop.

Between legitimacy and loss “”

Radio Free Europe called for comment from the US State Department and the European Union on Kosovo's failure to elect the president and move to new elections, as well as the consequences this may have on the country's political stability, but until the publication of this article, there was no response.

Toby Vogel, analyst at the Council for Policy Democraticisation in Brussels, says early elections can be seen as the lost “ ”, as they are likely to produce a political result similar to the previous one.

However, he stresses that this is an initial process with the Constitution, so it is both legitimate and democratic.

“As a genuine democratic Government, Kurti Government and other authorities, Parliament and so on, are following constitutional procedure”, the Vogel praises Radio Free Europe.

From the European perspective, he says the EU and some member states are not showing the political will to move Kosovo forward in the integration process, hiding behind “domestic instability”.

“Even when Kosovo enjoyed unprecedented domestic stability under Prime Minister Kurti, the EU made no progress either in dialogue with Serbia or in the membership process, which indicates that the nature of instability is an groundless excuse, hiding the lack of political will in Brussels and in key member states”, Vogel adds.

The Cost Beyond Politics

The crisis in Kosovo is not limited to politics. It also directly affects the pace of government decision - making.

According to Naim Jakaj, from the Kosovo Institute for Justice, the first consequence is paralysing the legislative process. In the absence of a functional Assembly, new laws are not adopted and key reforms slow down, including those related to rule of law and European integration.

Another problem, according to him, is the lack of parliamentary oversight of the government a key element in a democratic system.

This situation, Jakaj points out, significantly lowers the level of accountability and transparency in decision-making.

The incumbent's “government has limited mandate and cannot make long-term strategic decisions, leaving the country in an institutional stagnation state. In essence, an institutional vacuum is created, where the state functions minimally but does not develop”, Jakaj tells Radio Free Europe.

He underlines that the lack of a Government with a full mandate is reflected directly in the international plan as well.

According to him, this could cause delays in important processes, such as application for membership in the Council of Europe or meeting obligations under the European Union's Growth Plan.

Financial Election Bills

And beyond the political and legal dimension, the crisis also produces an additional financial burden since any new election process implies new expenses for the state budget.

Central Election Commission spokesman (KQZ) Valmir Elesi tells Radio Free Europe that 2026 is not pre-priced as an election year, so no means for early elections have been split into the institution's annual budget.

Under such circumstances, the CEC is forced to address the Government of Kosovo with demand for funding in order to cover the cost of organising the process.

As a comparison point, Elez cites the recent December 28th elections, for which a budget of 11.5m euros was planned, while real spending reached around 7m euros, according to still non-final data.

In that election, over 2 million Kosovo citizens, both inside and abroad, had the right to vote a figure expected to remain similar in the upcoming elections.

Turnout was about 45 percent, but such a level is not guaranteed, as, as Jakaaj says, frequent elections create “hello” to voters.

Unlike him, Deda sees the focus elsewhere - not on declining participation, but on how citizens will read and judge the political situation themselves.

The “Test election is the maturity of the people of Kosovo whether Kosovo citizens will punish such party behaviour or approve it”, Deda concludes.