By Fatos Bytyci

PRISTINA (Reuters) - Kosovo's ruling Vetevendosje party is on track to come first in Sunday's parliamentary election, but it fell short of an outright majority needed to rule without coalition partners, preliminary results showed on Monday.

The election result would be a drop from the more than 50% that Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s party won in 2021. But it puts him in position to lead the next government in a country whose politics are dominated by the relationship with neighbouring Serbia and Serbs within its borders.

Another Kurti-led government may see a continuation of policies to extend government control over the north, where about 50,000 ethnic Serbs live, many of whom refuse to recognise Kosovo's independence from Serbia in 2008. That worries moderates who fear a return to the ethnic violence that has blighted the region in recent years.

Vetevendosje won 41.3% of votes with 88% of ballots counted, official results from the election commission showed. The opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo was second with 21.8% and the Democratic League of Kosovo party had 17.8%.

"Preliminary results show one true, exact and clear thing, and this is that the Vetevendosje movement has won the elections of February 9, 2025," Kurti told supporters in the capital Pristina as crowds let off fireworks, banged drums and waved Albanian flags.

Monday will likely see the beginning of coalition talks, although it is not clear which party or parties Vetevendosje will team up with. During an acrimonious election campaign, in which fines for misconduct trebled over the 2021 poll, Kurti said he would refuse to rule with a coalition.

Kosovo, which is majority ethnic Albanian, is Europe's newest country, and one of its poorest. It gained independence from Serbia in 2008 with backing from the United States after a 78-day NATO bombing campaign against Serbian forces in 1999.

The election campaign saw debates over corruption, crime, health and education, but looming in the background is the situation in the north, where Kurti's moves to reduce ethnic Serbs' autonomy has stoked tensions and isolated it from the European Union and the United States.

The EU placed economic curbs on the country in 2023 for its role in the tensions, cutting at least 150 million euros ($155 million) in funding, Reuters found.

(Writing by Edward McAllister; Editing by Michael Perry)