Kosovo parliament installs a new Kurti government but leaves the political crisis unresolved

A narrow majority returns Kurti to office

Kosovo's parliament voted a new government led by Prime Minister Albin Kurti into office on Sunday, months after a June snap election failed to produce a clear route out of the country's political impasse. The cabinet secured 62 votes in the 120-seat assembly, only one more than the threshold required for a simple governing majority.

The vote followed the third parliamentary election held in Kosovo within roughly 18 months. Kurti's Vetevendosje movement again won the largest share in June, but with less support than it had received in the preceding ballot. The repeated elections reflected an institutional crisis that began when parties could neither sustain a government nor assemble the larger quorum needed to choose a president.

Opposition legislators boycotted Sunday's session and argued that the government vote breached the proper sequence for completing parliament's leadership. Lawmakers had not elected all deputy speakers before moving to approve the cabinet. Opposition parties indicated that they would ask the Constitutional Court to examine the disputed procedure, meaning the new executive may begin work under legal uncertainty.

European funding and diplomacy are waiting

The European Union had warned in July that prolonged deadlock was already carrying practical costs. Its Kosovo office said functioning institutions were needed to adopt reforms, approve legislation and unlock financing. It identified as much as €882.6 million in potential grants and favourable loans under the Western Balkans Growth Plan through 2027, alongside additional pre-accession investment.

Kurti also inherits the unresolved relationship with Serbia, which does not recognise Kosovo's 2008 declaration of independence. Normalisation between Pristina and Belgrade remains central to both sides' stated European ambitions. The new government's narrow base and the opposition's procedural challenge could make compromises on that issue still more difficult.

What matters next is whether the Constitutional Court accepts a challenge and whether parliament can finish filling its leadership posts. The government must also demonstrate that it can pass budgets, international loan agreements and reforms rather than merely survive its installation vote. Kosovo has acquired an executive, but Sunday's decision has not yet guaranteed durable political functionality.