Kosovo president proposes new prime minister to try to end impasse

President Vjosa Osmani has nominated former parliamentary speaker Glauk Konjufca as Kosovo’s next prime minister to try to avert a snap election, despite resistance to his candidacy by opposition parties.

Konjufca has 15 days to present a government for approval by parliament, which last month rejected the candidacy of Albin Kurti, a leftist and Albanian nationalist who has been caretaker prime minister since an inconclusive election in February.

Opposition leaders said after rejecting Kurti’s candidacy on October 26 that they would also reject Konjufca, who is an ally and aide to Kurti, and called for a snap election.

Months of political deadlock in the small Balkan country have contributed to a lack of reforms, the stalling of infrastructure projects and the freezing of some EU and World Bank funding, and hindered Kosovo’s EU integration.

Osmani urged parliament to back Konjufca as prime minister for the good of the country so the 2026 state budget and several international financial agreements can be approved.

“As president, I have assessed that it is in Kosovo’s interest to attempt to form a government so these important decisions are not delayed for several more months,” Osmani told a press conference late on Tuesday, adding she would have to call a snap election if parliament rejected Konjufca.

Konjufca, 44, was proposed by Kurti’s Vetevendosje party, which finished first in February’s election but did not secure a majority and has failed to reach an agreement with other parties on forming a government.

Opposition parties have refused to govern with Kurti, criticising him for his handling of relations with Kosovo’s Western allies and for his actions in the country’s ethnically divided north, where there is a Serb minority.

Kosovo, Europe’s newest country, gained independence from Serbia in 2008 with backing from the US after a 78-day Nato bombing campaign against Serbian forces in 1999.

Reuters