Politics of Kosovo

Albin Kurti's hopes of becoming Prime Minister of Kosovo once again have been set back after the Central Election Commission, CEC, on Wednesday said 15 of the 28 political entities that had applied to run in the February 14 snap elections had proposed candidates "not in line with the Law on General Elections, which specifies that a person who has been found guilty of a criminal charge in the la

A man in Pristina votes at a polling station in the early parliamentary elections on October 6, 2019. Photo: EPA-EFE/GEORGI LICOVSKI

The decision came hours after the Constitutional Court ruled that Avdullah Hoti's current coalition government was illegitimate because it was voted into office with the help of an invalid vote cast by an MP with a criminal conviction.

He stated that he would not change that position.

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, in coordination with acting Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, on Thursday dismissed the chief of the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, KIA, Kreshnik Gashi, allegedly for trying to obtain confidential documents from the President's office.

The meeting was also attended by the Minister of Mining and Energy Zorana Mihajlovi, as well as the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovi, and his predecessor and appointed Ambassador of Serbia to the USA Marko Djuri.

Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti has repeatedly stated that consultations will be held with the country's political parties to discuss choosing the next president after Hashim Thaci's resignation, but his office told BIRN that the government has not yet set a date for talks.

Analysts, non-governmental organizations and the opposition influenced that warming of bilateral relations, the Director of the Center for Euro-Atlantic Studies, Jelena Mili, assessed today.

Congressman Eliot L. Engel stated today that Serbia will not be approved EU membership until it recognizes Kosovo. "You can see how right I was when I talked about it two weeks ago," Vucic says, adding:

The draft was prepared by the EP Rapporteur for Kosovo, Viola von Cramon-Taubadel in the Foreign Policy Committee.
According to the document, the invitation is not new, because the European Parliament is still the only EU institution that treats Kosovo as a state and asks member states to recognize Kosovo's citizenship, Radio Free Europe in Albanian reports.

On BIRN's televised programme Jeta ne Kosove on Thursday, Agriculture Minister Besian Mustafa expressed his dismay at the failure of the justice system in Kosovo to shed light on the murder of his father, Xhemajl, in 2000.