Pristina Mayor and new leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) said the party will become one of the major players in the political landscape in Kosovo but that his priority remains leading Pristina municipality. Ahmeti said the new PSD leadership is open to cooperation with former colleagues from Vetevendosje.

Vetevendosje defector and Pristina Mayor Shpend Ahmeti has been elected the new leader of the Social Democratic Party – a party formed back in the 1990s, which has enjoyed little success since then.

Vetevendosje has reacted to the recent resignation of Pristina Mayor Shpend Ahmeti from the party saying it was disappointed with the decision. “We thank Shpend Ahmeti for his contribution to our victories and naturally we expect him no less than delivering on the promises he made on the behalf of the Movement in 2013 and 2017,” Vetevendosje said.

Kosovo Police are investigating graffiti daubed on the walls of one of University of Pristina faculties against President of Kosovo Hashim Thaci, Mayor of Pristina Shpend Ahmeti, and the head of Kosovo’s Islamic Community Naim Ternava. The graffiti was discovered today and it threatens the three officials with death for allowing the construction of a Muslim mosque in Pristina.

Shpend Ahmeti, Pristina mayor from Vetvendosje movement, said that the statements of the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Kadri Veseli and the others from the same party, remind him of former PM Gruevski from the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. “Parliamentarian republic and democracy are the same everywhere, majority is a majority. Who has 61 MPs creates the government. This was also confirmed both in Macedonia and Kosovo by the EU and the U.S. Add to this political legitimacy that majority of people in Kosovo voted for change.

Shpend Ahmeti, mayor of Pristina and member of Vetevendosje general council, writes in an opinion piece for EurActiv that the people of Kosovo are losing patience with EU and are accusing it of prioritising Serbian accession over their own sovereignty. "The question is raised whether the EU still has something to offer to the Western Balkans beyond financial assistance. EU foreign policy in the Balkans can only be described as the least common denominator of 28 member countries.

Kosovo may have taken an important step toward international recognition this year, when it joined FIFA and won Olympic gold in Rio. But for Shpend Ahmeti, the mayor of Pristina, building a nation begins on the ground.