Kosovo goes to polls in bid to end year-long political impasse

By Fatos Bytyci and Edward McAllister

PRISTINA, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Kosovo went to the polls on Sunday, with nationalist Prime Minister Albin Kurti's party seeking a majority to end a year-long political deadlock that has paralysed parliament and delayed international funding for Europe's youngest nation.

The vote is the second this year in Kosovo after Kurti's Vetevendosje party fell short of a majority in February. Months of failed coalition talks prompted President Vjosa Osmani to dissolve parliament in November and call an early election.

Failure to form a government and reopen parliament would prolong the crisis at a critical time. Lawmakers must elect a new president in April and ratify 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion) in loan agreements from the European Union and World Bank that expire in the coming months.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. (0600 GMT) and close at 7 p.m (1800 GMT), with the first official results expected soon after voting ends.

The Balkan country's opposition parties have refused to govern with Kurti, criticising his handling of ties with Western allies and his approach to Kosovo's ethnically divided north, where a Serb minority lives. Kurti blames the opposition for the impasse.

In a bid to woo voters, Kurti has pledged an additional month of salary per year for public sector workers, 1 billion euros per year in capital investment and a new prosecution unit to fight organised crime. Opposition parties have also focused on improving living standards - a leading concern for voters.

"We want the next government to create conditions for the youth to stay here and not leave," one voter, 58-year-old Rexhep Karakashi, told Reuters in the capital, Pristina.

Opinion polls are not published in Kosovo, giving no clues to the possible outcome, and some voters said they did not expect the vote to bring significant change.

"There wouldn't be great joy if Kurti wins, nor would there be if the opposition wins. This country needs drastic changes, and I don't see that change coming," said Edi Krasiqi, a doctor.

KURTI URGES PEOPLE TO VOTE

After casting his ballot at a polling station in Pristina, Kurti urged people to vote, saying higher turnout would bolster the parliament's legitimacy.

"Once the election result is known, we will do everything we know and can to constitute the parliament as soon as possible and to proceed with a new government," he said.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 with U.S. backing, including a 1999 NATO bombing campaign against Serbian forces trying to crush an uprising by the 90% ethnic Albanian majority.

Despite international support, the country of 1.6 million has struggled with poverty, instability and organised crime. Kurti's tenure, which began in 2021, was the first time a Pristina government completed a full term.

Tensions with Serbia flared in 2023, prompting the EU to impose sanctions on Kosovo. The bloc said this month it would lift them after ethnic Serb mayors were elected in northern municipalities, but the measures likely cost Kosovo hundreds of millions of euros.

($1 = 0.8495 euros)

(Reporting by Edward McAllister in Athens and Fatos Bytyci in Pristina; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Mark Potter and Helen Popper)