In Kosovo, the ideological lines of political parties have almost never been determinants of coalitions or the alignment of citizens with them. But, currently, when new elections seem inevitable, we may see a common front of right-wing parties that would confront the populist left that is in power. At least, calls have started from some parties that are seeking ideological alignment.
Express newspaper
The failure of the Kosovo Assembly to elect a President has plunged the country into a new political crisis after almost a year lost to the impasse of 2025. Political parties are currently awaiting a verdict from the Constitutional Court after initially suspending the work of the Assembly following the challenge that the Vetëvendosje Movement made to President Vjosa Osmani's decree to dissolve the Assembly.
Opposition parties have begun moving towards preparations for new elections until this decision is made. Two parties have signaled that they are seeking to unite the right-wing front in Kosovo against the ruling left-wing Vetevendosje Movement. But can this happen?
The leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Lumir Abdixhiku, a party that declares itself to be center-right, appears to have emerged from the refusal position he held over the past year to cooperate with other opposition parties, which, with minor differences, are similarly aligned ideologically.
In a call to "institutionalists, supporters of the Republic and all travelers on the Euro-Atlantic path," Abdixhiku said that the time requires the unity of all of them.
While also calling for overcoming minor differences between opposition parties, Abdixhiku, at a time when there is talk of a possible return of Vjosa Osmani to the LDK, demanded that past grievances remain in the past.
"All of these have a common home, the Democratic League of Kosovo. Therefore, I will launch a great political and civic union around a common project. A project that transcends each of us. That transcends small differences, great ambitions and the bitterness of the past. In times of crisis and in the face of the great destinies of the future, they become completely irrelevant. Today's dramas, annual crises and unstoppable accusations are exhausting Kosovo. The country needs another narrative. A narrative that unites, that normalizes political life, that develops the state and anchors it forever in the West," Abdixhiku wrote, optimistic that this will happen.
Denouncing him as "insatiable" and aiming to take over the institution of the Presidency, representatives of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, a "right-wing conservative" party, also called for a unity of the entire opposition.
The party's MP, Besnik Tahiri, said in a press conference that the opposition was too late in taking this step to oppose the Vetevendosje Movement. In fact, his call went beyond ideology, demanding a unified platform for the next four years for the country.
"The opposition is long overdue to be united in its political platforms. Any unity that should happen against this government should not only have a political profile, right and left, but should have a state vision of how to get out of a situation, a mess that has gripped this country. We think that before our party dress, before our ideological dress, there is this state, there is this institution. I think that as long as there is no such thought, the opposition is weak. The opposition should not be afraid to unite completely with a platform, not with a political ideology, but with a platform [through which] it will produce for this country in the next four years," said Tahiri.
The second largest party in Parliament, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, is also profiled as being centre-right. However, there is still no position on the potential right-wing front.
A statement regarding this was made by MP Blerta Deliu-Kodra, who did not deny the need to create a right-wing platform, but said that it is too early to declare about this.
"If the platforms, our offer is unifying with others, we have not been opposed to our cooperation... we are there to sit down with our opponents," she said on RTV21.
A right-wing figure who could become part of this front is President Vjosa Osmani, who was not prevented by ideological differences between the parties from entering the race with the left in 2021 through her Guxo party, which she had profiled as center-right. While this party, now led by Donika Gërvalla and Faton Peci – both of whom became very close figures to Prime Minister Albin Kurti – competes and wins elections under the Vetëvendosje logo, Osmani's merger with the LDK has begun to be seen as an option after she completes her presidential mandate.
The history of political party collaborations and coalitions in Kosovo after independence shows that the ideological spectrum is not that strong, but was often numerically sufficient to secure a parliamentary majority.
PDK and LDK, as the two largest parties after the war, were often in power together, sometimes including AAK, while they have also collaborated with parties from non-majority communities.
A left-right coalition was formed in 2020 between the Vetëvendosje Movement and the Democratic League of Kosovo. But the coalition was short-lived. At the time, four months of negotiations were held for only 45 days together in government.
And while the opposition is talking about a front, Kurti says he will invite them to meetings.
"I believe that we should meet with the leaders of the opposition parties and I will send them invitations today to meet at the beginning of next week," he said.
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