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Kosovo’s Anti-Deal Party To Fuel Tensions After Elections

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

(Worthy News) – Kosovo held parliamentary elections to form a new government amid concerns that the popularity of an anti-establishment party could undermine talks on normalizing relations with neighboring Serbia. Adding to problems is the coronavirus pandemic and an economic crisis in what is the Western Balkan’s most impoverished nation.

Some 1.8 million eligible voters on Sunday could cast their ballots in Kosovo’s 2,400 polling stations. They were electing 120 lawmakers among more than 1,000 candidates from a whopping 28 political groupings.

The Serb minority has ten seats, and ten others belong to other minorities. But Sunday’s parliamentary election in Kosovo came amid international worries about the popularity of the Vetevendosje party. The anti-establishment party will complicate Western efforts to broker an end to a territorial dispute between Kosovo and neighboring Serbia. Those tensions have overshadowed Kosovo’s 13 years of independence.

Vetevendosje argues there can be no compromise with Serbia. But without a settlement, it will be more difficult for both to join the European Union one day. Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a decade after the 1998-1999 war between separatist ethnic Albanian rebels and Serb forces.

The war ended in June 1999 following 78-day days of airstrikes by the NATO military alliance. That campaign drove Serb troops out, and an international peacekeeping force moved in.

While most Western nations recognize Kosovo’s independence, Serbia and its allies Russia and China do not. And with Kosovo’s Vetevendosje party is predicted to receive up to 55 percent of the vote in Sunday’s elections, doubling its previous score, the international community fears more tensions.

ETHNIC ALBANIANS

Most ballot votes are coming mainly from Kosovo’s ethnic Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the 1.9 million population. However, analysts say Vetevendosje may still need a partner to govern.

That’s good news for former Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj, whose AAK party could emerge as a king-maker. He says Kosovo should not be held hostage to a deal with Serbia. In remarks, he even suggested a “referendum on Kosovo becoming a union” with neighboring Albania.

Besides overcoming tensions with Serbia, whoever comes to power also faces a coronavirus pandemic, reducing unemployment and fighting deep-rooted organized crime and corruption. That won’t be easy at a time of mounting social tensions. According to official estimates, one-third of its workforce is unemployed, and gross domestic product per capita hovers around $4,300.

Sunday’selection was scheduled after Kosovo’sConstitutional Court rendered invalid a vote by a convicted lawmaker. That vote helped confirm the Cabinet of Acting Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti of the center-right Democratic League of Kosovo.

In June, the Cabinet was named after Albin Kurti of the left-wing Self-Determination Movement party was removed as prime minister.

The EU sent an Elections Expert Mission to monitor the vote, which could determine Kosovo’s future relationship with both the EU and its foes.