Kurti and Abdixhiku fail to reach agreement on president

2026-04-20 13:07:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

The ruling Vetevendosje Movement (LVV) and the opposition Democratic League (LDK) failed to reach an agreement to elect a new president of Kosovo during a meeting on Monday, and the parties warned that this was the last meeting between them.

Speaking to the media after the meeting, LVV leader, Prime Minister Albin Kurti, said that LDK leader, Lumir Abdixhiku, did not accept his offers for an agreement.

"I have to say that the talks were unsuccessful because none of our offers were accepted by the LDK leader," Kurti said.

He said that he offered the LDK, in co-government with other partners, to have the Deputy Prime Minister, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and three other ministries.

In another offer, Kurti said he offered the position of speaker of the Kosovo Assembly to the LDK.

"I preferred that Abdixhiku become my deputy, and in this way we can start a new chapter of cooperation between LDK and LVV," Kurti emphasized.

Meanwhile, Abdixhiku stressed that he will not meet with Kurti again after the failure of the talks.

"I tried, I tried, I failed, unfortunately. Now I will return to LDK and I will return to the great mission of uniting the right within LDK," Abdixhiku said after the meeting, reiterating his party's position that one party cannot lead the three main institutions in the country: the Parliament, the Government and the Presidency.

According to him, Prime Minister Kurti insisted that the position of president remain with his party.

Kurti, on the other hand, insisted that he does not want his party to lead the country's three main institutions.

Meanwhile, asked if there is an alignment between LDK and former president Vjosa Osmani, whose mandate expired on April 4, Abdixhiku stated that something like this would be good news for both Kosovo and LDK.

"It is my goal and I will work towards this goal until the last day."

The Kurti-Abdixhiku meeting comes as the constitutional deadline for electing a president will expire on April 28, and if it is not met, then the country will go to new elections.

A few hours before the meeting, Kurti called for compromise.

"The election of the president is a constitutional duty of the people's elected representatives, and this requires a will for solutions, a readiness for compromise and difficult decisions," Kurti said during his cabinet meeting.

This is the second meeting between Kurti and Abdixhiku, after the initial one that ended without any agreement.

At the end of March, the Constitutional Court gave lawmakers until April 28 to elect a new president.

Since then, there has been little movement towards a possible agreement and Kurti has not held any meetings so far with the main opposition party, the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which says it is awaiting an official letter from the prime minister for a meeting.

Kurti criticized PDK for demanding in previous talks that someone from the opposition party be elected president without revealing the name of the potential candidate.

The Minister of Trade, Mimoza Kusari-Lila, also said that opposition parties have not proposed names for president in meetings with the prime minister so far.

"In no case so far, from LDK or PDK have there been any proposals or initiatives to resolve the issue of the president or to propose names," Kurti's minister said at a press conference on Monday.

Last week, Abdixhiku - whose party has 15 seats in the Assembly - dismissed rumors that he would nominate himself for president./REL