Albanian nationalism in Kosovo

Ahead of the expected resumption of the stalled dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, from which Kosovo declared independence in 2008, Kosovo leader Albin Kurti is coming under domestic pressure to get the United States involved in the European Union-facilitated process.

Vetevendosje MPs have also joined protests in Lezha in Albania against the construction of hydropower plants.

Kurti and his colleague's visit to Albania came three weeks after his government came to power, and before he has even laid out his domestic programme for governing.

With a fourth government in two years taking power in March, Kosovo's publicly-owned enterprises face a new round of firing and hiring.

The most senior positions in state-run firms are traditionally filled with political appointees, who invariably depart when a new government enters office.

The election of Kosovo's next president took a new twist on Friday when the Vetevendosje [Self-Determination] party's parliamentary group called a meeting of the parliamentary presidency to examine a request to amend the Law on Election, suggesting that new snap polls might be on the horizon, less than two months after Kosovo's last elections.

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.

Taking Stock

Kosovo Acting President, Vjosa Osmani, L), and leader of Vetevendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, R), give a joint victory speech after the preliminary results of February 14 snap parliamentary elections showed Vetevendosje won by a landslide. Photo: BIRN/ Urim Krasnii

The Pristina Basic Court ordered 30 days' detention of two suspects arrested on March 9 on vote-rigging and bribery suspicions, Mirlinda Gashi, the court's spokesperson, confirmed on Friday.

Kosovo's Foreign Minister Meliza Haradinaj-Stublla in Budapest in October 2020. EPA-EFE/LAJOS SOOS.

Haradinaj-Stublla quit after allegations of vote-rigging were reported on Sunday by the Insajderi website, which claimed that her husband, Dardan Stublla, bribed election commissioners to help her win a seat at the Kosovo Assembly at parliamentary elections last month.

"Fewer cases are being left for the following year, but the essence is in the manner in which the cases are resolved," said Driton Demhasaj, director of the NGO 'Cohu', which has spent the past five years monitoring corruption cases in Kosovo.

"I think they [the Kosovars] have more than compensated for the debt of 1999," he added, referencing Kosovo's independence war with Serbia of spring 1999 when Albanians- especially those who live in the cities and villages near the border with Kosovo- sheltered hundreds thousands Kosovo Albanians who flew their homes.