The European Union Election Observation Mission in a press conference on Tuesday presented its assessment of the February 9 parliamentary elections in Kosovo, assessing it as a process that overall demonstrated resilience and a commitment to democratic principles.

According to EU observers, the elections were peaceful and competitive, with participation from all communities, testing a new legal framework. 

“The campaign was vibrant despite the presence of harsh rhetoric reflecting deep political divisions. Election day was well-managed due to the collegial efforts of polling station staff, overcoming challenges posed by the belated decisions of the Central Election Commission, CEC,” the report reads.

Nathalie Loiseau, Chief Observer of the EU Election Observation Mission and Member of the European Parliament, presented the mission’s preliminary statement on the parliamentary campaign and election process in Kosovo.

“This is the first election under the new electoral law, which implements many EU recommendations. Election day was peaceful, and voters were able to cast their ballots in good conditions. These are clear signals that the people of Kosovo are committed to democracy.”

Loiseau further stated that despite a generally positive assessment of the voting process, critical stages of the electoral process have yet to take place.

“While our observers assessed the voting generally positively, difficulties with the implementation of procedures became more apparent during the counting phase. We observed that the CEC experienced challenges regarding hiring, training, and procurement. This may have caused significant delays, which are now undeniable. There must be full transparency regarding what is going wrong and why,”  she emphasised further.

Loiseau noted that the campaign, including election day, was peaceful and that there were no significant incidents. However, polarisation and deep divisions were evident in the harsh campaign rhetoric.

“There is a plurality of lists on the ballot paper, including non-majority parties, which I would like to underline. However, uneven resources and access to media led to the absence of a level playing field. For instance, the number of Kosovo Serb parties can be seen as a positive sign, but genuine political plurality is still some way off.”

The latest Central Election Committee, CEC, update on Tuesday from Kosovo’s parliamentary polls shows that with 99.53% of votes counted, ruling party Vetëvendosje leads with 40.89%. PM Albin Kurti and Vetëvendosje supporters took to the streets of Pristina late Sunday night to celebrate victory.

But the preliminary data suggest that the opposition denied Vetëvendosje a majority to form a government alone. The Democratic Party of Kosovo, PDK took 22.05%, Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK 17.63%, and the Alliance for Future of Kosovo and partners, AAK-NISMA coalition 7.46%. The ballots counted so far do not include conditional votes, persons with special needs, and diaspora.

On Tuesday, Loiseau further added that the electoral bodies should remain independent of political influence.

“We witnessed instances of politicisation of the CEC during the electoral process. We noted with concern the deadlock of the Independent Media Commission, which prevented it from making any decisions during the campaign. On the other hand, the Electoral Complaints and Appeals Panel was faced with a very large caseload. It demonstrated its ability to take swift decisions and imposed substantial fines on political entities.”

While reading the report, Loiseau stated that the observers also noted the harsh verbal attacks on opponents at rallies and in televised debates. 

“We noted with concern negative language by the ruling party against the media and judiciary. Boycotts of specific media outlets also contributed to reduced opportunities for voters to make an informed electoral choice.”

According to her, the atmosphere campaign was also observed in the Serb- majority municipalities.

“Many interlocutors reported pressure from Srpska Lista members on voters, and there was overt and repeated interference by Serbia.”

During the campaign, the EU observers also noted interference by U.S. Special Envoy Richard Grenell on social media, where he criticised Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

“It would be described as a very undiplomatic tone,” she added.

Regarding women’s participation, Kosovo’s legislation requires further harmonisation, the report states.

“The current quota has been respected but has not led to a significant improvement in the number of female candidates. The campaign included sexist verbal attacks, including in TV debates and negative posts on social media.”

CEC started counting the number of votes for MP candidates on Tuesday afternoon. 

Earlier during the day, the Basic Prosecution of Pristina started investigating the technical errors CEC online vote counting system faced on Sunday.

Meanwhile, diaspora voting showed improvement, with in-person voting available at embassies, according to the report.

Marta Temido, head of the delegation of the European Parliament, expressed concerns about accessibility issues at polling stations.

“We were concerned about restricted access to many polling stations for people with disabilities.”

Language barriers remain an issue, as different language communities inhabit separate political and informational spheres that are seldom bridged, Loiseau added.

“Although the law requires voting instructions in Serbian and other non-majority languages where these communities are present, this information was, for the most part, only available in Albanian.”

She further noted interference by Serbian authorities in supporting one of the six Kosovo Serb parties.

“Some of our interlocutors have reported pressure on Kosovo Serbs; this cannot be ignored.”

Although the election administration generally enjoys stakeholders’ confidence, concerns were raised over the CEC’s impartiality and independence from political influence. 

“The CEC became entangled in political disputes and politicized certain technical aspects of the electoral process. The attempt by Lëvizja Vetëvendosje nominated members of the CEC to prevent the certification of Srpska Lista placed significant pressure on the institution.”

The core team of analysts will remain in Kosovo until the end of February.

The EU mission was invited by the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, and consisted of 100 observers from EU states, Canada, Norway, and Switzerland.

A final report from the mission is expected to be published months later.