Almost nine months after Kosovo went to the polls to elect a new parliament, the country has been plunged into a deep crisis and is likely to face a snap election before the year is out.

Vetevendosje (Self-Determination), the party led by Albin Kurti, who was prime minister of Kosovo for over five years, got approximately 42% of the vote in the general election on February 9.

Since then, Kurti has been serving as prime minister in a caretaker capacity. Nevertheless, he failed on Sunday in his attempt to form a new government.

Vetevendosje has 48 of the 120 parliamentary seats, and Kurti got only 56 of the 61 votes needed. This makes him the first election winner in the young state's history not to be able to form a government.

Ball now in the president's court

After the vote, Parliamentary Speaker Dimal Basha explained that "responsibility now passes to Vjosa Osmani, president of Kosovo." According to the constitution, she cannot ask Kurti a second time to form a new government.

President Osmani, who supported Kurti five years ago, will call on the political parties to reach a compromise to prevent the country from being without a budget.

Her spokesperson, Bekim Kupina, confirmed that the head of state will encourage the political parties to work together "to avoid any blockade that could have a negative impact on the welfare of the citizens and the functioning of the institutions in Kosovo."

Threat of a financial crisis

Without a new government, Kosovo could be thrown into financial disarray because the budget for 2026 cannot be passed.

In a letter addressed to Osmani, 21 civil society organizations wrote that the lack of a new national budget would block salaries and payments to teachers, doctors, people working in the public administration and social transfers for hundreds of thousands of citizens.

"The financial future of the country and the welfare of the citizens must not be at the mercy of political blockades," they wrote.

"Her [Osmani's] experience, her standing and her unifying role as president could be decisive when it comes to avoiding a crisis that would affect many families."

Political blockade

The three largest opposition parties, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), all refuse to enter a coalition with Vetevendosje and Albin Kurti.

For his part, Kurti refuses to enter into a coalition with the Serbian Srpska Lista party, which has nine seats in parliament and is backed by the Serbian government in Belgrade.

PDK leader Memli Krasniqi has left no doubt about his stance: "Fifty-six votes for Albin Kurti and not a single one more," he said. "This is the end of a political deception that has brought our country isolation and division and wasted time in recent months. Albin Kurti will no longer be prime minister."

Kurti has announced that a snap election will be held in December. If the outcome is similar to the last election, the country faces yet another vote next spring, which would likely coincide with the presidential election. Vjosa Osmani has been in office for five years, and her term ends in April 2026.

While a second term in office is possible, a two-thirds majority in parliament must approve another term for Osmani or choose a different candidate.

Constitutional crisis

After the parliamentary election on February 9, the parliament was not able to convene for several months, and it has not been able to approve a government. Indeed, it was only after a parliamentary speaker was elected a month ago that the assembly could convene.

When it did, Deputy Speaker Nenad Rasic was not present. The appointment of Rasic, the only ethnic Serbian lawmaker in the parliament who is not a member of Srpska Lista, is disputed by that party.

The case is now with the Constitutional Court, which is examining the matter.

Serious implications for the country

Kosovo's months-long political and institutional crisis has prevented ratification of the agreement on the EU's Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans.

Kosovo could receive over €880 million ($1,017 million) from this facility. To date, however, not a cent has been paid out.

According to the World Bank, economic growth in the Western Balkans will drop from 3.6% in 2024 to 3% in 2025.

Serbia and Kosovo are expected to take the biggest hit. Both countries have been in EU-facilitated dialogue with each other since 2013, albeit without making any noteworthy progress.

Impact on the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue

The fact that Kosovo has just a caretaker government also hampers the country's dialogue with Serbia.

While the caretaker government has held several meetings in Brussels this year with the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, Peter Sorensen, the opposition LDK and PDK have criticized these meetings.

They declared that "every agreement or obligation that is entered into with Serbia in this phase of the dialogue creates no binding obligations for Kosovo."

Experts from the Kosovo Institute for Justice (IKD) are of the opinion that the caretaker government can neither legally nor legitimately continue the dialogue.

"The constitutional four-year term of this government ended on March 22, 2025. Since then, it has only been acting in a caretaker capacity, which is restricted to the day-to-day management of public matters," explained Naim Jakaj, senior researcher at the IKD.

Jakaj is of the opinion that the caretaker government has neither the political backing of parliament nor a mandate to take measures that could have lasting consequences for the state, including international agreements of a political or legal nature.

"The dialogue with Serbia is a process that requires political decisions at the highest level and complete institutional responsibility, something a caretaker government cannot do according to the constitution and the law," said Jakaj.

This article was originally published in German.