Defeated Rivals Congratulate Vetevendosje on Victory in Kosovo Election

Political leaders in Kosovo have accepted the landslide victory of the Vetevendosje Movement in Sunday's snap parliamentary elections, with some saying they took responsibility for their own parties' poor showing.

By Monday morning, the Central Electoral Commission, CEC, had counted around 98.62 per cent of the regular votes cast, with Vetevendosje way out front on 48.16 per cent, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, coming second with 17.31 per cent, and the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, coming third with 13.15 per cent. The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK, received about 7.43 per cent.

Albin Kurti, leader of Vetevendosje and the party's candidate for the post of PM, said the result vindicated his claim during the campaign that the election was a "referendum" on what he called "seizure of the state".

"The road ahead is long. We will have obstacles and we might make some mistakes, but we have a noble cause. We will not take revenge on anyone, but we will seek justice," he said.

"Each and every one of us must be responsible for making our country a good place to live in," added Kurti, who ran in the election as a candidate for parliament despite a 2020 Constitutional Court ruling barring him from doing so, as he has a criminal conviction.

Emphasizing his current coalition with Acting President of Kosovo and former LDK member Vjosa Osmani, Kurti said the result confirms that they do not need to form extra coalitions with other parties, which, according to him, "need to be reformed in opposition".

Osmani, who was placed number two in Vetevendosje's MPs' list, said the convincing victory of their joint list should "should serve as a good lesson that the word given to the people must not be broken", referring to her...