Kosovo

Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said Kosovo’s Security Force (KSF) should develop into an army by 2028, but there is strong opposition from Serbia.

Kosovans headed to the polls against a backdrop of a stagnant economy and renewed ethnic tensions but the Central Election Commission says turnout was low.

And ethnic tensions between Kosovar Albanians and Serbs remain deriyse from the 1998-1999 war between Serbian forces and ethnic Albanian separatists.

The vote is seen as a key test for incumbent Prime Minister Albin Kurti and this is the first time since independence in 2008 that Kosovo’s parliament has completed a full four-year mandate.

The vote will determine who will lead the Kosovo side in stalled normalisation talks with Serbia, facilitated by the EU to move both states closer to joining the bloc.

Former US envoy for Kosovo and Serbia, Richard Grenell, recently appointed as Trump’s special envoy for special missions, criticised the Kosovo prime minister, provoking bewilderment in Kosovo right before the vote on Sunday.

Whatever the result of Sunday’s election, the next government will have to tackle increasing poverty and counter the threats of renewed ethnic violence in the country’s north.

NATO-led international peacekeepers known as KFOR said their 4,300-strong force will be assisted by more than 200 Italian troops during the election period.