Kosovo's left-wing ruling party Vetëvendosje (Self-Determination Movement) won the country's snap parliamentary election on Sunday, although its vote share fell compared with the previous election in December 2025, according to preliminary results.
With 97.2% of polling stations counted, Prime Minister Albin Kurti's party had 43.1% of the vote, the electoral commission in Pristina said.
In the December election, Vetëvendosje had won the support of 51.1% of voters.
According to the electoral commission, the liberal Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) came in second with 21.2%, while the centre-right Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) garnered 17.7% and the conservative Alliance for the Future (AAK) 7.1%.
Vetëvendosje, led by Kurti, was the clear favourite going into the election.
It remains unclear whether Vetëvendosje, as in December, has secured a governing majority together with lawmakers from ethnic minority groups.
The preliminary result from Sunday does not include votes cast by Kosovars living abroad. These voters tend to strongly support Kurti's party, meaning its result could improve by 2 to 3 percentage points.
The third parliamentary election within 16 months became necessary because the previous parliament failed to elect a new head of state within the required timeframe.
Vetëvendosje, along with lawmakers from ethnic minority groups, secured a majority in December's election and managed to form a government. However, on April 4, the term of office of the incumbent president, Vjosa Osmani, expired.
Parliament's attempts to elect a successor within the required timeframe then failed, as not enough lawmakers attended a session to choose Osmani's replacement. Under Kosovo's constitution, at least 80 of the 120 lawmakers must be present in parliament to elect a successor.
The election of a successor to Osmani remains the task of the future parliament. The quorum stipulated by the constitution forces the government camp to reach a certain level of consensus with the opposition.
If no agreement can be reached by a new parliament on the country's head of state, the small Balkan country could find itself caught in a cycle of regular parliamentary elections.
