More than 2 million voters in Kosovo are heading to polling stations on Sunday to elect a new 120-seat parliament for another four-year term, in a process widely seen as a popularity test for current Prime Minister Albin Kurti of the Vetevendosje party, as he seeks another mandate.

While Sunday’s polls will elect MPs, the main focus is the race for the premier’s post. Kurti will be challenged by Bedri Hamza of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK, Lumir Abdixhiku of the Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK and Ramush Haradinaj of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK.

Since declaring independence from Serbia in 2008, Kosovo has had six governments and five different prime ministers. Not one saw out a full term. But Vetevendosje’s landslide win in 2021 allowed it to govern alone for a full term.

That election decimated the opposition, as the once dominant PDK and LDK, slumped to 17 and 12 per cent of the vote respectively, compared to more than 50 per cent for Vetevendosje.

Although he had a solid majority to govern, Kurti’s current term has been marred by troubles over his attempts to extend Kosovo’s authority in the four Serb-majority municipalities in the north of the country, in Leposavic, Zvecan, Zubin Potok and North Mitrovica.

The international community has often criticised his actions against Serbia-run institutions which have operated in Serb-majority areas. In June 2023, the European Union imposed measures against Kosovo after a security operation to install ethnic Albanian mayors in the four Serb-majority municipalities triggered a violent backlash from Serbs in which dozens of NATO-led peacekeepers were injured.

The EU demanded Kosovo suspend police operations near municipal building in the northern municipalities and said the new mayors – elected by few voters after a Serb boycott – should perform their duties elsewhere. It called for new local elections to be held with the full participation of Serbs.

In recent days, Richard Grenell, US President Donald Trump’s envoy for special missions, has been actively criticising Kurti’s policies.

When on Wednesday Kurti told a TV station in Kosovo’s western town of Istog/Istok that Kosovo-US relations are “stronger than ever”, Grenell ridiculed the claim.

“Delusional. Relations have never been lower. Albin Kurti has been condemned by the first Trump Administration, the Biden Administration, NATO, the EU, the US embassy, Anthony Blinken, etc,” Grenell wrote on X.

Some 903 polling stations will operate during Sunday’s vote in Kosovo with 1,280 candidates in total representing political parties, coalitions, citizens’ initiatives and one independent, all seeking votes. A political entity has to pass the 5-per-cent threshold to get a seat.

In addition to 1.9 million voters inside Kosovo, around 50,000 voters will go to polls that opened on Saturday in 17 Kosovo embassies and 15 consulates abroad. More than 50,000 others have registered to vote by post.

“This is the first time we’re organising votes in embassies and consulates. I call on citizens who are registered to vote to respect the order in the countries where the vote is held. I want a smooth process,” Kreshnik Radoniqi, head of the Central Election Commission, said on Friday.

At Sunday’s elections, 100 MPs are elected by a direct vote, while the 20 other seats in parliament are reserved for non-Albanian communities, of which ten seats are set aside for the Serb community.

In the past, the Belgrade-backed Srpska Lista party has been politically dominant in the Serb community. Since November 2022, Serb MPs have boycotted the work of parliament as a protest against Kurti’s actions in the north of the country.