New elections up in Kosovo
PRISTINA, Kosovo (AFP) —Kosovo’s parliament will hold a vote Thursday to dissolve the assembly and trigger new elections, a move that risks further delaying a deadlocked dialogue with former war foe Serbia.
The vote comes after outgoing premier Ramush Haradinaj, a former commander of ethnic Albanian rebels who battled Serbia in the late 1990s, stepped down in July after he was summoned to a special court in The Hague, which is investigating crimes from that era.
Since his resignation, parties have agitated for a snap poll and pledged to disband parliament, with some already kicking off unofficial campaigning.
If parliament is dissolved, authorities will be required to organize an election within 45 days.
The political jostling comes as Kosovo is at an impasse with Serbia, which still rejects the independence the former province declared in 2008.
While most of the Western world recognizes Kosovo, Serbia and its allies China and Russia do not, effectively shutting it out of the United Nations.
New elections will put the EU-led talks on hold for longer, with a planned summit in September likely to be postponed.
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he expects negotiation to only resume “in early December, at best” because of Kosovo’s possible election.
A new government could, however, offer an opening if it were to revoke the 100 percent tariff on Serbian goods that Haradinaj put in place last November.