But if the country fails to form a government again, Kosovo risks losing access to the bloc’s €6 billion Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, as it needs to deliver reforms to unlock the funding.
“Kosovo already faces an uphill battle because of five non-recognizer [EU] states, and the country cannot afford another year lost to the politicians’ inability to do what they were elected for — provide solutions, not create problems,” said Besar Gërgi, an expert in European integration at the Group for Legal and Political Studies, a Kosovo think tank.
Cyprus, Slovakia, Spain, Greece and Romania do not recognize Kosovo.
When asked by POLITICO what to expect from Sunday’s election, Osmani expressed confidence that it would meet “the best democratic standards,” deliver swift results and allow for the rapid formation of government institutions.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said he hopes “for a big and significant victory” for Kosovo’s largest ethnic Serb party, Serb List, expecting that it will secure seats to “represent the interests of Serbs, not Albin Kurti.”
Serbia still does not recognize Kosovo and refers to the state as ‘Kosovo and Metohija,’ its former name as a Serbian province. The EU has attempted to remediate relations between Kosovo and Serbia through the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue; however, despite years of talks, the intervention has produced few concrete results.