Dear subscribers,

Please be advised that this is the final edition of the Observer to be published.

Thank you for your long-standing interest in and engagement with the report.

• Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani issues decree to dissolve Assembly (media)
• Abdixhiku welcomes decision to dissolve Assembly (Kallxo)
• Court comments on request to suspend deadlines for president election (Klan)
• Osmani summons party leaders for consultations on election date (media)
• VV to address court about decree for dissolving the Assembly (Ekonomia Online)
• Zulfaj: VV respected the Constitution fully; President must be elected (media)
• Terras after Kosovo fails to elect president, “truly disappointing” (Express)
• KFOR: Despite Middle East conflict, Kosovo mandate continues in line with 1244 (Kosovo Online)
• “Inflation, rising oil prices, biggest risk for Western Balkans due to Middle East conflict” (Kosovo Online)

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani issues decree to dissolve Assembly (media)

All news websites report that Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani has issued the decree to dissolve the Assembly today. Osmani told a press conference that the failure of MPs on Thursday night to elect the President had pushed Kosovo into new elections. “This situation was entirely avoidable. It is a great tragedy that those representatives did not choose the interest of the people,” Osmani said.

Osmani argued that it was irresponsible that the Assembly failed to elect a new President, while asserting that the situation had been caused by people “with dangerous intentions”. “No one should have wished for another political cycle, especially at this moment when the country needs stability. But this is where irresponsible people with dangerous intentions have brought the country,” she said.

Osmani also said that the Constitution clearly states that the deadline for electing the President expired at midnight on Thursday. “Although the procedure for electing the President may begin up to 60 days before the final deadline, it cannot be postponed any further and must be completed no later than 30 days before the end of the current mandate. The final deadline is clear, it was last night at midnight, and the President cannot be elected after that moment … The MPs had 23 days at their disposal to carry out this constitutional duty, and they decided not to do so. The fact that the Assembly chose not to use those days does not change our Constitution and does not remove my duty to dissolve this Assembly, which failed,” she said.

Abdixhiku welcomes decision to dissolve Assembly (Kallxo)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) leader Lumir Abdixhiku has welcomed the decision of Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani to issue a decree to dissolve the Kosovo Assembly. He said the LDK appreciates Osmani’s constitutional responsibility and clarity on the matter in defense of protecting the constitutional order and the normal functioning of Kosovo’s institutions.

“Political failure, along with dangerous tendencies of imposition and improvisation, cannot produce artificial political debates or procedural delays that would turn our Republic into a country without norms and rules,” Abdixhiku said in a Facebook post.

Abdixhiku also said that the LDK is ready to take part in consultations to set a date for elections, adding also that new elections were not the preferred alternative of the LDK. “On the contrary, they were completely unnecessary and could have easily been avoided. Unfortunately, appetites for one party to seize all state positions prevented any eventual compromise,” he said.

Court comments on request to suspend deadlines for president election (Klan)

The Constitutional Court of Kosovo told Klan Kosova today that a decision on Assembly Speaker Albulena Haxhiu’s request to suspend the constitutional deadlines so that the Kosovo President can be elected in 60 days, will be made after every constitutional aspect of the request is reviewed. 

Osmani summons party leaders for consultations on election date (media)

Citing unnamed sources, Telegrafi and Indeksonline report that starting from 13:00 today Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani will meet leaders of political parties for consultations on the date of new parliamentary elections. Albanian Post reports that all three opposition parties – PDK, LDK and AAK – have confirmed they will attend the meetings with Osmani.

VV to address court about decree for dissolving the Assembly (Ekonomia Online)

Vetevendosje Movement caucus chief Arberie Nagavci told reporters today that President Vjosa Osmani’s decree this morning to dissolve the Assembly is unprecedented and that it will be sent for review to the Constitutional Court.

“We are witnesses that the dissolution of the Assembly is an unprecedented act that goes against … and we will send it to the Constitutional Court. There was no reason for this act to happen this morning,” she said, adding that a parliamentary session was supposed to be held today at 14:00 to discuss international agreements amounting to €100 million.

Nagavci also argued that Vetevendosje did everything in its power to avoid a new crisis. “We need to make it clear to the people: we were aware that there are many parties and interest groups that were bothered by the great popular support for the Vetevendosje Movement and Prime Minister Albin Kurti. Nevertheless, we did everything in our power to avoid another crisis. Since the certification of the election results and immediately after the constitution of institutions, as required by the constitutional order, we dealt intensively with the election of the president,” she said.

Zulfaj: VV respected the Constitution fully; President must be elected (media)

Advisor to Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Jeton Zulfaj, said in a Facebook post today that the Vetevendosje Movement fully respected the Constitution by proposing two candidates for the post of President. “PDK and LDK have 37 MPs together but did not propose any candidate,” he said.

Zulfaj argued that opposition parties wasted our time last year by boycotting the election of the Assembly Speaker and now they want to waste our time by boycotting the election of the president. “But the President must be elected,” he said.

Terras after Kosovo fails to elect president, “truly disappointing” (Express)

The European Parliament’s Rapporteur for Kosovo, Riho Terras, said in a post on X today that the Kosovo Assembly’s failure to elect the president is a serious setback. “Instead of stability, the country faces new political uncertainty. Truly disappointing,” Terras said. 

KFOR: Despite Middle East conflict, Kosovo mandate continues in line with 1244 (Kosovo Online)

The KFOR mission stated that it continues to carry out its mandate in Kosovo independently of the situation developing in the Middle East. KFOR told Kosovo Online that it continues to contribute to the security of citizens in Kosovo in accordance with the United Nations mandate. “Despite the conflict, KFOR continues to fulfill its mandate by contributing to a safe environment for all people living in Kosovo, based on United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244,” KFOR said.

“Inflation, rising oil prices, biggest risk for Western Balkans due to Middle East conflict” (Kosovo Online)

Marko Savkovic from the ISAC Fund told Kosovo Online that the conflict in the Middle East does not represent a direct risk for the countries of the Western Balkans, assessing that the previous diplomatic disagreements between Tirana and Tehran will not escalate further. For the Western Balkans, he notes, the biggest risk lies in the economic consequences – inflation and rising prices, especially of petroleum products. Savkovic believes that European countries that supported the operation of the United States and Israel are at greater risk of an Iranian attack, pointing out that Iranian missiles can reach certain EU member states. Iran, he explains, has managed to escalate the conflict by attacking US allies in the Middle East, including targeting international airports and oil terminals. “For now, I would say they have succeeded in expanding the conflict so that it becomes something more than merely, however terrible it may be, a conflict between the US and Israel on one side and Iran on the other. Azerbaijan has also been attacked, specifically the Nakhchivan region,” he said.

He points out that any further expansion of the conflict to the territories of US allied states would represent a form of state terrorism, which would provoke a reaction from the European Union that would expect the countries of the Western Balkans to follow their example. He also recalls that among the countries of the region only Albania had open disagreements with Tehran.

“I do not think that the Western Balkans itself is directly threatened. The only country that had a very concrete reason for conflict with Iran was Albania. Albania expelled a group connected to the regime in Tehran. Iran responded with a cyberattack. That was one of the most serious cyber incidents in this region, but beyond that, I truly do not see anything further at this moment,” Savkovic said.

Speaking about the indirect consequences of the Middle East conflict for the countries of the Western Balkans, he stresses that the economic effects will be felt very quickly. “The Strait of Hormuz has been closed, oil pipelines disrupted, strikes on oil terminals... That represents a large share of global trade in petroleum products. Prices will rise. The increase is not yet that large, but we will see how it affects other prices. Usually a rise in prices follows, and then inflation,” he explained.