Acting Prime Minister and leader of Vetëvendosje Movement (VV), Albin Kurti, has stated that the formation of the new government will take place immediately after the certification of the election results by the Central Election Commission (CEC). In an exclusive interview for KosovaPress, Kurti said that the aim is to constitute the Assembly of the tenth legislature as soon as possible, elect the Assembly leadership, and form the new government, emphasizing that the most important initial decision will be the approval of the 2026 budget. According to him, cooperation with other parties will become clear very quickly, as he said, due to urgent international agreements.

The acting prime minister, whose party won over 50 percent of the vote in the December 28 elections, underlined that Kosovo should no longer be delayed in benefiting from approximately 880 million euros from the European Union’s Growth Plan, as well as 90 million euros in budget support from the World Bank. He also mentioned funds for kindergartens and for the health information system.

The VV leader also spoke about the composition of the new government cabinet, saying that there will be new consultations within the party and with coalition partners, taking into account the individual results of members of the assembly.

“As soon as the results are certified by the Central Election Commission, we are interested in constituting the Assembly of the tenth legislature as quickly as possible, together with the Assembly leadership, and forming the government of the Republic, where the most important decision right at the beginning is the 2026 budget. There are also several other decisions for the first session, but naturally the most important one is the budget,” Kurti said.

Regarding co-governance, Kurti said that priority will be given to political parties representing non-majority, non-Serb communities, with whom cooperation has existed in previous legislatures, including the political subject of Nenad Rashiq. He emphasized that cooperation with some other political entities became more difficult during 2025, but did not rule it out entirely.

Here is what Kurti says when asked whether he will cooperate with the opposition

“As for how much communication and cooperation we may have with other parties, we will have to see very quickly, because we need to vote on these international agreements. It is very important that we are no longer delayed in accessing the 880 million euros from the European Union’s Growth Plan, of which approximately two-thirds are loans, while one-third are grants. On the other hand, we also have 90 million euros in budget support from the World Bank. We also have another 20 million euros for kindergartens, and another 20 million euros for the health information system. Therefore, very soon we will see whether we will be able to cooperate with the opposition regarding international agreements. As for the government, there will be no problem whatsoever in forming the government quickly. At the moment, delays are only due to the completion of the vote count and the certification of the results,” Kurti emphasized.

Speaking about the government cabinet, Kurti said that major changes are not expected, but he stressed that there will be new consultations within Vetëvendosje Movement and with coalition partners.

Kurti explains what the governing cabinet will look like

“I cannot say that there will be major changes—there will not be major changes—but I also cannot say that it will be identical. First, we need to wait for the election results, and you know that citizens make two kinds of choices: first they choose the political subject, and then they choose the candidates within that political subject, and there are differences there. We have members of parliament who have been elected for the first time, we have members who have been reconfirmed even more strongly, and we have some who have fallen behind somewhat. We must take all of this into consideration before making the final decision, and we are a broad team. Therefore, it is not only a matter of hierarchy, whether within Vetëvendosje Movement or outside it in terms of how many votes someone has received, but also who, where, for what, and when—all of these are very important as well. In other words, we need to view ourselves individually in function of the team we are building, which is a combination of the parliamentary majority and the government cabinet,” Kurti said.

He also spoke about cooperation with other non-Serb parties, specifically about the possibility of a partnership with the Bosniak community MP Duda Balje and the Egyptian community MP Veton Berisha, whom he failed to convince last year to vote for the Assembly speaker.

Kurti on Duda Balje and Veton Berisha: I believe they have clearly read the election result

“I have met them in the past, and I believe they have correctly interpreted the result of these elections. We are interested, first and foremost, in cooperating with those we have already cooperated with—namely, the political parties of non-majority, non-Serb communities that were part of the eighth and ninth legislatures. Naturally, this will also include the political subject of Nenad Rashiq. That will be the first step, and then we will see about the others, but I believe that the year 2025 has made cooperation with them more difficult. I am not saying it is impossible, but our first step will be with those with whom we have governed together, whom we know well, and who do not surprise one another with positions or public statements,” said Acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

In the interview for KosovaPress, Kurti also spoke about economic growth, which he mentioned during the election campaign, relations with the United States, the arrest of Venezuela’s president, Nicolas Maduro, security issues, and others. /N. Jakupi/