Two days after the certification of the results of the June 8 elections, the acting prime minister, who is also the leader of the election-winning party Vetëvendosje, Albin Kurti, began meetings with the political leaders of other parties in an effort to reach an agreement on the creation of new institutions.
Kurti no longer needs cooperation with Albanian parties to form the government, which requires at least 61 votes from the parliament’s 120 deputies, but he does need cooperation for the election of the President, an issue that led the country to snap elections in June of this year.
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To elect the President, a quorum of at least 80 deputies is required in the chamber. After a meeting held on Friday (10.07.2026) with the leader of the party that came second in the election, Bedri Hamza of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Albin Kurti said he believes there is willingness to constitute the institutions, but did not announce that there is an agreement with the PDK.
On the election of the government, Kurti said the responsibility falls on him, but for the election of the president, according to him, the responsibility falls on all parties.
“Our starting point would be a consensual figure, someone from no party, beyond the controversies of the current scene, someone with proven national and professional values and who would be an expression of unity. For governing, the responsibility falls on us, but for the election of the president, we all have responsibility,” Kurti said, adding that in order to be certain about the election of the President, the presence of more than 80 deputies must be secured.
The chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, Bedri Hamza, for his part, was firm in his position. He said that in this mandate the PDK has decided to remain in opposition, without specifying whether PDK deputies will stay in the chamber to make a quorum for the election of the President. The PDK has 22 deputies. “We have said that we have no red lines and that we are open to comprehensive political agreements, including all institutions. Based on the correct talks, our position is that the PDK in this mandate is a party in opposition, and we wish Mr. Kurti and all those who meet and talk success,” Bedri Hamza said.
VV-LDK relations
At a longer meeting, lasting around three hours, on Friday evening Kurti also met with the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, Lumir Abdixhiku. Kurti stressed that the talks with the LDK, which he had previously preferred to have in government, “are taking place around concepts, principles, deadlines and functions.”
With this, Kurti is aiming for a broader political agreement. “We are discussing concepts, principles, as well as schedules and functions. It is a major broad undertaking that requires trust and good faith, and it requires time to be realized. We will be transparent with you regarding the process we are in, and there is also the confidentiality of these talks, which must result in concrete achievements so that we have something to make public,” Kurti declared after the meeting with Abdixhiku.
The latter was accompanied at the meeting with Kurti by former president Vjosa Osmani, whom Kurti did not want to make president months earlier. LDK leader Lumir Abdixhiku described the talks with Albin Kurti as a good and welcome step to open, as he said, “other chapters for meeting and discussion,” while stressing the necessity of institutional stability. “The LDK seeks institutional stability and certainly democratic balance, in which all sides contribute with full awareness to provide the country with sustainable institutions,” he said.
The EU calls for functioning institutions
Albin Kurti, the acting prime minister whose party won the June 7 elections, urgently needs an agreement with the opposition to ensure that Kosovo will have a new president, and thus that the country returns to the track of institutional stability. International authorities have called on Kosovo’s political class to be constructive in talks, find ways to cooperate, and give Kosovo stable institutions.
The head of the EU Office in Kosovo, Eva Palatova, in an editorial, reminded Kosovo’s political leaders that the country held three rounds of elections within a year and a half, and that now citizens tired of elections are expecting functional institutions.
“Across the European Union, political parties compete fiercely during elections, but are expected to cooperate afterward in the interest of institutional stability. Compromise is not a sign of weakness. It is an essential democratic skill and lies at the heart of the European Union’s daily decision-making.
As Kosovo’s citizens aspire to EU membership, reaching a political compromise today would send a clear and concrete signal that Kosovo’s political leaders are ready to embrace the political culture on which the European Union is built,” Palatova wrote.
According to her, quoting the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, “The European Union can support Kosovo, but it cannot do its homework. Responsibility for advancing Kosovo’s European future ultimately belongs to Kosovo’s political leaders and institutions.”
Constitutional deadlines for creating institutions
Based on the final result of the June 8 elections, certified two days ago, the constitutional deadline for establishing the new institutions has now begun to run. The Vetëvendosje Movement, led by acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti, has secured 53 mandates in the Assembly. The opposition parties, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), won 22 seats, the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) 18 seats, and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) seven deputies.
Srpska Lista secured 9 seats, while the other minorities 11. Following the certification of the results, the Election Law provides that the acting president, Albulena Haxhiu, must call the session to constitute the Assembly, which must be held within 30 days from the day the results are certified. The Speaker of the Assembly is proposed by LVV, as the largest parliamentary subject, and is elected with at least 61 votes. If the same candidate does not receive the votes after three attempts, another candidate must be proposed. The vote for the Speaker must be open.
After the election of the Speaker, the Assembly proceeds with the election of five deputy speakers, three of whom are proposed by the three largest parliamentary subjects, LVV, PDK and LDK, one is proposed by the deputies of the Serbian community, and one by the deputies of the other non-majority communities. In this way, the Assembly of Kosovo is considered constituted only after the Speaker and the five deputy speakers have been elected. After the full constitution of the Assembly according to the Election Law, two separate constitutional procedures open, one for the formation of the Government and one for the election of the President. Election monitors say these procedures do not exclude one another and that neither the Constitution nor the rulings of the Constitutional Court make the formation of the Government conditional on the prior election of the President./DW
