Kosovo after Election of New Government

Avdullah Hoti (Beta/AP/Visar Kryeziu)

Tensions May Escalate

The election of a new government of Kosovo will step up normalization talks between Belgrade and Pristina, but local political conflicts are likely to escalate. Avdulah Hoti is the new prime minister, but the central political figure is Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, who had strongly supported the inauguration of a new cabinet and opposed an early vote. The new government was elected after the Self-Determination, the strongest party in Kosovo’s legislature, had lost parliamentary majority. The previous prime minister and the Self-Determination leader, Albin Kurti, promised to continue to fight for the same ideas and strategies he had been advocating.