Kosovo president dissolves parliament, calls snap election after failed presidential vote

March 6 - Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani on Friday dissolved parliament and called snap elections after lawmakers failed to elect a new head of state within a constitutional deadline. Read more at straitstimes.com.

March 6 - Kosovo's President Vjosa Osmani on Friday dissolved parliament and called snap elections after lawmakers failed to elect a new head of state within a constitutional deadline.

The parliament had until midnight on Thursday to choose a president before Osmani's term ends in April, but opposition parties refused to participate in the vote. Under the Balkan country's law, failure to elect a new president triggers snap parliamentary elections.

The move extends a political deadlock in Kosovo, which is Europe's youngest nation and has aspirations to join the European Union. It had no functioning government for most of last year as the fractured parliament failed to elect a speaker for months.

The next elections will be the third in just over a year. Kosovo already held a snap election on December 28 after failing to form a government following the February 2025 poll.

"A parliament that cannot elect a president cannot continue indefinitely to drag out the process as is being attempted," Osmani said in a statement. “No one should wish for another political cycle, especially at this moment when the country needs stability."

Osmani is due to meet political parties on Friday before setting an election date.