29/09/2026 Session
“The early parliamentary elections of 7 June 2026 were conducted in a calm, orderly and professional manner, without major incidents,” says a PACE election observation report presented by rapporteur Iulian Bulai (Romania, ALDE).
The report notes that “the Central Election Commission administered the elections effectively, electoral dispute resolution mechanisms functioned well, and voters were able to exercise their right to vote freely”. The delegation also “commends the people of Kosovo* for their continued commitment to democracy under difficult circumstances”.
At the same time, the elections “revealed persistent structural challenges”, including “an unequal playing field resulting from the misuse of administrative resources by the caretaker government; voter fatigue and declining turnout; a campaign lacking substantive policy debate and direct exchanges between leading candidates; growing threats from AI-generated disinformation, hate speech and digital violence” and women in public life being “increasingly subjected to digital violence, including image manipulation, deepfakes, blackmail and sexist language”.
Recalling that the Assembly should elect the President of the country by 6 October to avoid another dissolution, the delegation stresses that “the key challenge is therefore not only to organise credible elections, but also to ensure that the results can produce functional institutions”, warning that “the persistence of an institutional vacuum and consecutive elections is damaging to democratic governance, public trust and Kosovo's Euro-Atlantic aspirations”. “Elections alone cannot resolve a deeper political deadlock. Repeated elections may reproduce the same balance of power unless parties become more willing to negotiate, compromise and form stable coalitions.”
* Throughout this text, all reference to Kosovo, whether to the territory, institutions or population, shall be understood in full compliance with UN Security Council Resolution 1244 and without prejudice to the status of Kosovo.