Vetevendosje party

Electricity network system operator KOSTT announced on Tuesday that it will no longer supply consumers with power free of charge in four Serb-dominated municipalities of northern Kosovo - Mitrovica North, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and Leposavic.

Kosovo's ruling Vetevendosje party suffered a heavy blow in Sunday's mayoral election runoffs, winning only four of the 12 municipalities it was competing in, and losing in the capital.

Political parties were on the final day of a shortened election campaign this Friday as Kosovo voters in more than half the country's municipalities prepared to vote on Sunday in the second round of mayoral elections.

In a blow after its meteoric rise eight months ago, Kosovo's ruling Vetevendosje party will have to wait for the second round of local elections to see whether it has won control of any of the country's 38 municipalities.

BIRN has also reported how family members of former Kosovo president Hashim Thaci were hired as a copyright expert, a camera operator and in the marketing department.

Allegations of nepotism

Kosovo public broadcaster, RTK, board reporting to the parliamentary commission. Photo: BIRN

After a meeting with LDK MPs, party leader Lumir Abdixhiku said that the party would take part in an upcoming vote in parliament on Kosovo's next president, with former assembly speaker Vjosa Osmani widely seen as the frontrunner.

Six weeks after snap elections, parliament in Kosovo on Monday voted in Albin Kurti as Prime Minister for the second time within 13 months, after a long parliamentary debate.

Some 67 of the 120 MPs in the parliament supported Kurti's candidacy while 30 voted against. 

To help flesh this out, here is my wish list for what an active, innovative and principled foreign policy should include:

End the custodian and vassal relationships

Supporters of the Vetevendosje party celebrate the party's projected victory in the parliamentary elections, in Pristina, Kosovo, 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE/VALDRIN XHEMAJ

One day after his Vetevendosje party romped home in elections, Kosovo's new leader will find it easy to form a government - but will face problems if he tries to sideline the dialogue with Serbia.

The opposition Vetevendosje party was on course for a landslide victory in snap parliamentary elections in Kosovo on Sunday, on a day that its leader and prime ministerial candidate, Albin Kurti, described as a "bright day" when he cast his ballot at a Pristina polling centre in the morning.