Kosovo's voters return Kurti, ending months-long deadlock

Brussels has urged Kosovo's newly elected lawmakers to move swiftly as preliminary election results on Monday pointed to a record victory for Albin Kurti and signalled the end of almost a year-long "political stalemate".

By 3 pm (1400GMT), Kurti's Vetevendosje party (VV) were on 49.3 per cent of the vote with over 95 per cent of ballots counted after Sunday's snap poll.

Responding to the result, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said the candidate country which also receives significant support from the bloc should now push forward with "much needed" reforms.

"After the political stalemate following the February 2025 elections, we look forward to the swift formation of the new Assembly and Government," Kallas said in a statement.

According to analysts, the current count assures Kurti at least 56 seats in the 120-seat legislature, but ethnic minority MPs who are guaranteed 10 seats and traditionally back the winning party should give Kurti the necessary 61 MPs to govern the country without seeking other coalition partners.

"Realistically, there is no doubt that this allows VV to be comfortable and even govern alone," Eugen Cakolli, a researcher at the non-governmental Kosovo Democratic Institute, told AFP.

Cakolli said around 70,000 diaspora votes still needed to be counted, which was likely to increase VV's margin and could deliver Kurti's strongest result to date.

"Vetevendosje traditionally performs well among the diaspora, winning over 80 percent of the vote, which in the most extreme case could mean 58 seats in the Assembly."

Congratulating his fans late Sunday evening, Kurti said that it was "the greatest victory in the history of the country".

The leader also quickly called on the opposition to support his government as they look to approve key international loans for Kosovo, including from Brussels, which require a two-thirds majority to pass.

Kurti has spent months overseeing the country in a caretaker role after elections in February failed to deliver a workable government, leading to bitter division and a legislative gridlock.

Long-running coalition talks finally failed in November, forcing the dissolution of parliament and the calling of Sunday's vote.