Kosovo

Kosovo's parliament has elected Vjosa Osmani, the candidate of the ruling Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) movement, as the country's new president.

The Belgrade-backed Kosovo Serb party Srpska Lista submitted a complaint to Kosovo’s Constitutional Court on Monday, seeking a ruling against the decision of Prime Minister Albin Kurti to give them only one ministry in his new cabinet instead of the usual two.

Regional cooperation and good neighbourly relations are key elements in the EU accession process for all western Balkan countries. Serbia and Kosovo have both declared their intention to join the EU. However, despite some initial successes, such as the Brussels Agreement of 2013, the dialogue facilitated by the EU and initiated in 2011 has stalled. In 2020, the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue was relaunched and supported by the international community.

The European Union’s special envoy has warned Serbia and Kosovo that they must resume talks on normalizing ties if they want to make progress toward membership in the bloc. Miroslav Lajcak arrived in Serbia's capital, Belgrade, on March 3 after previously visiting Pristina, the capital of Kosovo, at the start of his tour in the region.

With almost all votes now counted, the leader of the triumphant Vetevendosje party, Albin Kurti, said he planned to make Kosovo a 'good country to live in' – while his humbled rivals sounded a contrite note, pledging to be constructive in opposition.

A pre-trial judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague rejected appeals for release from former President Hashim Thaci and three co-defendants awaiting trial for of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Kosovo’s election complaints panel barred former Prime Minister Albin Kurti, leader of the Vetevendosje party, from running for parliament in February’s elections because he was convicted of a crime under three years ago.

Thirteen years after Kosovo broke away from Serbia, the two countries remain mired in mutual non-recognition, with deleterious effects on both. The parties need to move past technicalities to tackle the main issues at stake: Pristina’s independence and Belgrade’s influence over Kosovo’s Serbian minority.

Kosovo’s acting president, Vjosa Osmani, has set February 14 as the date for early parliamentary elections. Osmani's announcement on January 6 follows a decision by the Balkan country's top court to annul a parliamentary vote that was held in June to elect a new government.