Vetëvendosje leads Kosovo snap elections as turnout falls to 36%

Vetëvendosje leads Kosovo snap elections as turnout falls to 36%
Vetevendosje leader Albin Kurti addresses the media after casting his vote. / Vetevendosje via Facebook
By Valentina Dimitrievska in Skopje June 8, 2026

Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s Vetëvendosje Movement is leading Kosovo’s snap parliamentary elections held on June 7, after more than 91.9% of polling stations were counted, according to preliminary results from the central election commission.

In the third general elections in Kosovo since February 2025, Vetëvendosje secured 43.6% of the vote, well ahead of its main rivals.

The elections were triggered by a prolonged political deadlock after parliament failed to elect a new president by the April 28 constitutional deadline, exposing deep divisions between Vetëvendosje and the main opposition parties.

The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) won 21.5%, followed by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) with nearly 18%, while the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) received 7.2%. The Serbian List gained 4.9% of votes, data showed.

“The will of the citizens expressed in today’s elections is in the ballot boxes. Its protection is an essential condition for the legitimacy and credibility of the electoral process. At this stage, our eyes, ears and full attention are on you — commissioners and observers. A high institutional and moral responsibility rests on you," Kurti said in a Facebook post.

The Central Election Commission said over 723,000 citizens cast their ballots, representing 36.88% of the nearly 2mn eligible voters. CEC chairman Kreshnik Radoniqi noted that turnout remained significantly lower than in the previous parliamentary elections.

By comparison, turnout on December 28, 2025 reached 44.99%, or about 900,000 voters, meaning participation in the June snap vote fell by roughly 200,000 citizens.

Kurti, who had previously secured a second consecutive mandate after the December 28 elections, was unable to secure enough support for his preferred presidential candidates. He also opposed the re-election bid of President Vjosa Osmani, while the Democratic League of Kosovo backed her, and the Democratic Party of Kosovo boycotted parts of the presidential vote process.

Despite the similar overall outcome to the December vote, the new election results have yet to resolve the ongoing institutional crisis over the formation of a consensus on the presidency, with Osmani recently calling on political parties to reach compromise to avoid further deadlock.

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