The Association of Kosovo Municipalities has submitted a request to acting Finance Minister Hekuran Murati to extend the legal deadline for approving municipal budgets for 2026, citing potential delays caused by the election campaign for the October 12 local elections.
Kosovo law stipulates that municipalities must approve their budget by September 30 for the following fiscal year and then submit it to the Ministry of Finance.
If this deadline is missed, municipalities lose the right to propose their own budget for the next year. In such cases, the Ministry of Finance prepares a budget version on their behalf, usually based on the figures from the existing budget.
The Association requested that Minister Murati postpone the deadline, arguing that most municipal council members are engaged in election campaigns and that it is more practical for budgets to be approved after the new councils are constituted.
Failure to approve the budget on time creates financial challenges for municipalities. For instance, the municipalities of Prishtina, Gjilan, and Zubin Potok approved their 2025 budgets late, resulting in occasional financial difficulties.
In the October 12 local elections, 5,626 candidates are running, including 206 candidates for mayors and the rest for municipal council seats.
For elections across 38 municipalities, 93 entities have been certified: 32 political parties, 32 citizen initiatives, two coalitions, and 27 independent candidates.
From September 17, postal voting will begin for over 260,000 registered Kosovo citizens living abroad.
Kosovo last held local elections in October 2021, in which the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) won the most municipalities, followed by the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).
