Non-Serb community parties set conditions for voting for new government – ​​Duda Balje demands the municipality of Zhupa

Political representatives of non-Serb minority communities in Kosovo, who, according to the preliminary results of the Central Election Commission, have entered the Kosovo Assembly, would support – in principle – any candidate for the formation of the new government, regardless of whether they come from the current ruling party, Vetëvendosje, or from the opposition parties.

Some of those with whom Radio Free Europe spoke have conditions for supporting the new candidate for prime minister, while others imply unconditional support for any government.

Based on 99 percent of votes counted, Prime Minister Albin Kurti's Vetevendosje Movement received the most votes in the February 9 parliamentary elections, namely 47 out of 120 parliamentary seats – however, not enough to form a sole government.

According to preliminary results, the Democratic Party of Kosovo is expected to have 25 MPs, the Democratic League of Kosovo 20, and the coalition gathered around the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo 8.

These figures may change after counting conditional and diaspora votes.

After declaring victory in Sunday's elections, Kurti said that Vetevendosje would independently form the government, meaning that the votes of minority communities could be decisive in its election.

Read too Kurti announces government formation: Citizens entrusted us with the new mandate to govern the country

Most likely, the so-called "minority government" would be formed even if the prime minister-designate were someone from the current opposition parties, because 61 votes are needed to elect a government.

According to the Constitution of Kosovo, out of a total of 120 parliamentary seats in the Assembly of Kosovo, 20 are reserved for non-majority communities – of which ten for the Serbian community and ten for other communities living in Kosovo.

Thus, the Bosniak community has three parliamentary seats, the Turkish community has two, members of the Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian (RAE) communities have one each, an additional seat goes to the RAE community that has won the most votes, and one parliamentary seat belongs to the Gorani community.

Which minorities have entered the Kosovo Assembly?

Based on preliminary election results, the Serb List – the largest Serb party in Kosovo, which has the support of Belgrade – won nine parliamentary seats, while the Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival of Nenad Rašić, a minister in Albin Kurti's government, won one.

When it comes to the ten seats guaranteed for other non-majority communities, the Democratic Party of Kosovo Turks won two seats in the Kosovo Assembly, while, from the Bosniak community, the New Democratic Party, the Vakat Coalition, and the Social Democratic Union won one seat each.

The New Democratic Initiative of Kosovo, representing the Egyptian community, won one seat. This community received the most votes from the RAE, so the Liberal Party of Egyptians won another parliamentary mandate.

Also, the Ashkali Party for Integration won one seat, the United Roma Party of Kosovo one, and the United Gorani Party one.

Read too PLE's Berisha "conditions" the vote for the new government

Who will minorities vote for?

Duda Balje from the Bosniak Social Democratic League of Kosovo says she is entering the Kosovo Assembly to protect the interests of the Bosniak community and that her vote of support will go to the candidate for prime minister who will meet the conditions of this community.

One of the main conditions, according to Bale, is the formation of the municipality of Zhupa with a Bosniak majority.

Based on the 2024 census, the Bosniak community in Kosovo is the second largest and constitutes about 1.69 percent of the total population.

To support the new Kosovo Government, Bale says he needs to receive guarantees from the prime minister-designate that more investments will be made in areas where Bosniaks live and that there will be a reform of the education system in teaching in the Bosnian language.

"We are here for our community, we are a minority. My job and my moral obligation is to support my community. For me, it is important that only the demands of Bosniaks are put on the table and discussed. Any candidate for prime minister who comes, conditions will be set," Bale tells Radio Free Europe.

Rasim Demiri from the Vakat Coalition says that it is still too early to think about which candidate for prime minister to support and under what conditions, but adds that such a decision will be carefully considered.

"After we complete the electoral process, we will see how and in what way we will approach it. Every decision that is made will be made in favor of the Bosniak community," Demiri tells Radio Free Europe.

Emilija Rexhepi from the New Democratic Party was not available for comment. In Kurti's government, she was deputy prime minister for minority communities.

Albert Kinolli from the United Roma Party of Kosovo says he will give unconditional support to the new Government of Kosovo, regardless of which party the candidate for prime minister comes from.

"For us, it is important that all the organs of our state are functional, because the people of Kosovo deserve it. Secondly, whoever will create the majority, we will be with them, we will be with those who have the majority to form the institutions of the Government of Kosovo," Kinolli tells Radio Free Europe.

The Chairman of the Egyptian Liberal Party (PLE), Veton Berisha, has stated to TV Dukagjin that the entity he leads will not accept the treatment of the Egyptian community as a uniform bloc (of non-Serb minority communities) that follows the majority, emphasizing that the party's decisions will be based on independent positions.

"I have no red lines with anyone, with specific names... Our program is public and each prime minister must pledge to be fully implementable. I will vote for the government that takes on the obligations, which we will have an offer on the table. And we will see how much I will manage to take on the obligations," Berisha said on Debat Plus.

Elbert Krasniqi, from the New Democratic Initiative of Kosovo, which represents the Egyptian community, was Minister of Local Government Administration in Kurti's Government, while his party supported the Vetëvendosje Movement in the pre-election period.

When he first won elections in 2019, Kurti formed a government with the support of the Democratic League of Kosovo. But, precisely at the initiative of this coalition partner, that government fell less than two months after its formation, due to disagreements over the management of the coronavirus pandemic.

The current opposition parties in Kosovo, the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, have rejected the possibility of forming a coalition with Vetëvendosje. Such a position was also expressed by the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Lumir Abdixhiku, during the election campaign.

Ramush Haradinaj of AAK has also come up with the idea of ​​forming a government from the opposition, but it has not been commented on by PDK and LDK.