Pristina (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – Voters started casting ballots in Kosovo on February 9, 2025. The election is viewed as a referendum on the leadership of Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his way of handling relations with Serbia.
It will decide who takes the helm in Kosovo’s stuck normalisation talks with Serbia, brokered by the EU. 28 political entities were participating in the election, among them major parties like Vetëvendosje (LVV), Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).
The elections utilised the open-list proportional representation system under a 5% threshold; twenty seats for ethnic minorities, and the Albin Kurti-led LVV party was most likely to triumph but fail short of an overall majority. Under such a system, there can be various alliances formed after this election. Meanwhile, the EU has deployed the Election Observation Mission to oversee this process.
Who are the main contenders in the key vote?
The main contenders of Kosovo’s parliamentary elections in 2025 manifest different visions about the future.
Albin Kurti, at present Prime Minister and leader of Vetëvendosje (VV), is focusing his campaign on anticorruption national independence, and Serbia’s influence should be met head-on. This manifesto also claims to integrate the northern part and does not seek to establish the Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities demanded by the Brussels Agreement.
Conversely, the Democratic Party of Kosovo’s candidate, Bedri Hamza, is more keen on economic reforms, foreign investment attraction, standards of living improvements, and relationships with the world. As mayor of South Mitrovica with experience as minister of finance, Hamza was perceived as pragmatic, focusing his leadership on the development of the economy.
With an approach of equilibrity in dialogue, Lumir Abdixhiku leads the LDK. During his campaign, he stressed the need to restore trust between Kosovo and the Western partners along with seeking a diplomatic stability approach in international negotiation. Abdixhiku pledges a new direction based on credibility in these talks.
