New government in Kosovo

Following the snap elections in Kosovo on February 14th – the fifth round of elections in eleven years – Kosovo will soon have a new government under the leadership of Albin Kurti.

Albin Kurti, who is a former student revolutionary leader, won the elections with a landslide. The opposition, including the cooperation party of Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation, LDK, worked hard but ended up third in place and will now form the opposition in the country.

The new government faces several challenges. The pandemic is tormenting Kosovo, with over 120.000 cases of infection and no government plan to start procuring nor handing out vaccines to the public. Besides the pandemic situation, unemployment is on a record high level, with almost one third of the country’s population out of work and a national economy on decline.

The relationship with Serbia is worse off than in years, especially following the stalled discussions between Prishtina and Belgrade last year. The new Kurti government however, has clearly stated that dialogue with Serbia is not a priority, and that it rather wishes to see Kosovo in a closer union with Albania.

The Jarl Hjalmarson Foundation continues to monitor the developments closely and will work with our regional and national partners in promoting freedom, democracy and rule of law.