The head of the Central Election Commission (CEC), Valdete Daka, said in an interview that calling snap elections in Kosovo presented quite a challenge for the institution she leads. “Early elections are always challenging, even more so when we had a 30-day timeframe window”, Daka said.

She recognised that the short time for organizing elections led to problems with voting for Kosovo citizens living abroad. However, Daka said the CEC was “unjustly accused” of preventing these voters from casting their ballots.  “We did everything we could, both in the legal and technical aspect, to enable them to exercise the right to vote”, said Daka admitting that there will be a number of voters abroad who will not be able to vote.

Asked about the election process in the north of Kosovo, Daka said no special arrangements will be made for the north and that CEC has officials working in the northern municipalities “who report to the CEC and make preparations in line with applicable legislation”. She said the OSCE will also facilitate the process “but with an extremely reduced capacity and competency”.