The Balkan country of Kosovo is facing a constitutional crisis after a deadline passed for the election of a new head of state. Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, an ally of President Donald Trump, has dissolved parliament and called for early elections.
With conflicts raging around the world and pressure on the NATO contingent in the Western Balkans to keep the peace, Osmani told reporters that “precisely because the geopolitical situation is so complex, it is important to end this electoral process that is underway. It is now very difficult to imagine what will happen next,” she said, according to Kiro7.
Trump recently praised the president of Kosovo in a speech in February for the “great job” she is doing in her country. Osmani accepted an invitation from Trump to join the Peace Council in January and has committed resources to the International Stabilization Force for Gaza.
American KFOR soldiers stand guard in front of the municipal office in the town of Leposavic, Kosovo, May 29, 2023. (Valdrin Xhemaj/Reuters)
Kosovo is facing another possible domestic change that could affect Osmani’s position. There are rumors of an impending downsizing or reorganization of NATO’s international peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, KFOR, which has been set up since 1999 to stabilize the country after the war in the Balkans.
The commander of the peacekeeping force, Major General Özkan Ulutaş, said in February that the US has no plans to reduce the number of troops in Kosovo, according to Reporteri. About 600 U.S. troops are currently deployed in the country.
Following Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia in 2008, tensions between the countries have remained high.
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Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani, to the right of President Donald Trump, participates in a charter announcement for his Board of Peace initiative aimed at resolving global conflicts, in Davos, Switzerland, January 22, 2026. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)
Kosovo’s parliament has been in stalemate for more than a year. Balkan insight reported that a February 2025 poll did not result in the formation of a government. Early elections in December resulted in a victory for Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s Vetevendosje party, but the party could not gain enough support from the opposition to elect a president.
Friday’s vote failed because the session fell 14 members short of a quorum. Opposition members boycotted the vote because they did not support Kurti’s candidate, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora of Kosovo Glauk Konjufca.
Osmani met with leaders of opposition parties on Friday, a meeting Kurti did not want to attend. The prime minister said that “it should not be possible to elect a president in the third round before parliament is dissolved and new elections are held.”
Kurti’s party has appealed to the Constitutional Court for a review of the constitutionality of the electoral process, the European Western Balkans website said.
President of Kosovo Vjosa Osmani delivers a speech during the ceremony of the Kosovo Peacekeeping Force (KFOR) Commando, led by Turkey to Italy, in Pristine, Kosovo on October 11, 2024. (Erkin Keci/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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New elections may be held as early as April 5, opposition leader Ramush Haradinaj has suggested.
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