# Kurti claims victory in Kosovo election as his party falls short of a solo majority
Albin Kurti's Vetevendosje party was on track to finish first in Kosovo's parliamentary election on 9 February 2025, but partial results suggested it would not be able to govern alone.
Lead but not a majority
With about 88% of the vote counted, Vetevendosje had roughly 41%, down from the 50% it won in 2021. Kurti nevertheless declared victory and said he was confident he could form a government. He told supporters: “We are the winners” and said the result confirmed what he called a good, prosperous and democratic government.
The BBC report said the Central Election Commission was delayed in releasing official results because its counting system failed. President Vjosa Osmani urged the commission to protect the integrity of the process and ensure every vote was counted correctly. The commission blamed technical issues, while media editor Besnik Krasniqi said the failure of the preliminary results system was intolerable.
Coalition arithmetic ahead
The election outcome pointed to another difficult coalition phase. The Democratic Party of Kosovo was polling at 22%, the Democratic League of Kosovo at 18%, and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo at 8%. Those were the only parties above the 5% threshold for seats, according to the report.
Kosovo's constitution reserves 10 seats for Serb minority MPs and another 10 for other minority groups. The BBC said the Serb minority MPs would not cooperate with Kurti's party, while the other minority representatives had historically been more open to working with Vetevendosje.
Kurti's popularity has grown partly because of efforts to extend government control in the Serb-majority north, but that has strained ties with the EU and US. Opponents accuse him of mishandling the economy and argue for a more conciliatory foreign policy, including restoring relations with Washington and moving closer to Nato.
What the vote means
The election confirmed that Vetevendosje remained the strongest force in Kosovo politics, but it also left the country facing another round of bargaining. Kurti came to power in 2021 after his party won a small majority, and this result suggested that returning to that position would be much harder.
The central story was not a landslide. It was a lead without control of parliament, a delayed count, and a political system where coalition-building, minority seats and outside relations could shape the next government as much as the winning share of the vote.
