Caretaker Prime Minister and Vetëvendosje Movement leader Albin Kurti and Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) chairman Lumir Abdixhiku are expected to resume talks amid ongoing efforts to resolve Kosovo’s institutional deadlock, particularly the issue of electing a new president.
The two leaders are set to meet again after the LDK withdrew from negotiations on joining a potential governing coalition with Vetëvendosje and abandoned its demand for the presidency.
Acting President Albulena Haxhiu said Tuesday that Kurti had told her that a meeting with the LDK leadership would take place soon.
“Very soon, there will be a meeting with the LDK,” Haxhiu said during a press conference following consultations with political parties on overcoming the institutional crisis.
Abdixhiku also indicated a day earlier that he was prepared to meet with Kurti, emphasizing that the LDK’s preferred format for political discussions was direct talks with party leaders.
“We hold meetings with party leaders. In this case, the only meeting we can have is with the chairman of the LVV, Albin Kurti,” Abdixhiku said.
The LDK, together with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), did not attend a meeting convened by Haxhiu at the Presidency on Tuesday.
The meeting had been called to discuss current political and institutional developments and the need to reach an agreement on a consensus candidate for president, which is considered a key step toward forming Kosovo’s other constitutional institutions.
The renewed contact between Kurti and Abdixhiku comes as political parties remain divided over the sequence for constituting the Assembly and electing the president.
Vetëvendosje has argued that an agreement on the presidency should be reached before the Assembly is constituted in order to prevent another institutional crisis. The opposition parties have maintained that the Assembly should first be constituted, with the presidential issue addressed afterward.
Haxhiu has urged the parties to discuss concrete names for a consensus president, warning that another election would not necessarily resolve the political impasse.
With the LDK no longer seeking the presidency as part of coalition negotiations, renewed direct talks between Kurti and Abdixhiku could become an important avenue for finding a compromise and preventing another round of elections.
