Kosovo parties strike deal to elect president, breaking deadlock

The party of Kosovo's caretaker Prime Minister ​Albin Kurti, Vetevendosje (VV), and the opposition ​Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) agreed ‌on Monday ​to back the election of a new president, a move that could break nearly two years of political deadlock. The ‌proposed candidate, Bekim Sejdiu, 51, is a law professor at the University of Pristina. He previously served as Kosovo's ambassador to Turkey and as consul general in New York.

Kurti, whose ‌party won the June 7 snap election, needs only a handful of votes from ‌smaller minority parties to form a government. However, he lacks the two-thirds parliamentary majority needed to elect a president. Kosovo, one of Europe's poorest countries, aims to join the European Union. Brussels has repeatedly said ⁠the country ​needs stable institutions capable ⁠of delivering reforms required for membership. Political instability has delayed reforms and slowed access to EU funding.

Together with ⁠several minority parties, the two parties can secure more than the 80 votes required to elect ​a president, a post that is largely ceremonial. Vetevendosje won 58 seats in the ⁠120-member parliament, while the LDK came third with 18. "We hope and believe that the Republic of Kosovo, ⁠as ​it has so often done in the past, will once again find a way to move forward and confront the major challenges that await us," Sejdiu told a ⁠news conference after the agreement was reached.

Failure to elect a new president triggered ⁠the June snap election, ⁠the country's third national vote in less than 18 months. It remains unclear when lawmakers will convene to elect a parliamentary speaker, approve a ‌new government ‌and vote on the presidency.