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Suspicions of vote manipulation/ 34 people detained in Kosovo

2026-02-01 15:38:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Authorities in Kosovo on Sunday detained 34 of the 43 people interviewed, who are suspected of manipulating the votes of candidates in the December 28 snap parliamentary elections in Kosovo.

They have been ordered to be detained for 48 hours. The Basic Prosecution Office in Mitrovica announced on Sunday that it has ordered the Kosovo Police Investigation Department to interview the heads of the Municipal Counting Centers in North Mitrovica, South Mitrovica, Leposavic, Zubin Potok and Zvecan.

In recent days, authorities in Kosovo have interviewed hundreds of people in different municipalities, and detained dozens, on similar suspicions. During the recount process, votes for some candidates were changed – in some cases by as much as 6,000 for one individual – while those for parties were not affected.

According to the Criminal Code of the Republic of Kosovo, any intentional manipulation of the vote or election results constitutes a criminal offense and is punishable by up to five years in prison. For some state officials, this has been the “most compromised electoral process” in Kosovo, as the country has been frequently praised by local and international organizations for organizing fair and transparent electoral processes.

The Central Election Commission (CEC) completed the recount process on Friday evening, and published the final results the following day. CEC members approved the candidate lists of all parties except the Serbian List, the largest Serb party in Kosovo.

The Serbian List and official Belgrade have reacted sharply to this decision, while the Serbian party has said it will appeal. The Chairman of the CEC, Kreshnik Radoniqi, has said that the parties can exercise their right to appeal within 48 hours after the announcement of the results.

Eugen Cakolli from the Kosovo Democratic Institute (KDI) said in a Facebook post that the CEC committed violations, initially by announcing results before the legal deadline for complaints had expired, and then by announcing "partial" results.

"Any member who voted against or abstained, if they had real doubts about the results, was the one who should have complained. The situation is not resolved by political voting within the CEC nor by blocking or allowing results according to the interests of the moment. But, knowing what the legal epilogue would be from a potential complaint to the ECAP or the Supreme Court, some chose to postpone yet another episode of this meaningless political show ," Cakolli said.

According to CEC data, the Vetëvendosje Movement won 51.10 percent of the votes, or 57 seats in the Kosovo Assembly, the Democratic Party of Kosovo, 20.19 percent of the votes or 22 seats, the Democratic League of Kosovo, 13.24 percent of the votes or 15 seats, and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, 5.50 percent of the votes or six seats.

Of the seats reserved for the Serb minority, nine seats were won by the Serbian List and one seat by the Party for Freedom, Justice and Survival. After the certification of the results, the way is opened for the formation of new institutions. The acting Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, with his party, the Vetevendosje Movement, is expected to form the new Government without any problems.

However, he himself admitted the day before that a new relationship between the government and the opposition will have to be created on other major issues, such as the position of the president or the approval of international agreements. For both processes, a two-thirds majority of votes must be secured. /REL