Preliminary results show Prime Minister Kurti's party won Kosovo snap vote convincingly

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PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo 's Prime Minister Albin Kurti appeared set for another term in office after his party on Sunday convincingly won an early parliamentary election in the Balkan country, preliminary results showed.

The Vetevendosje, or Self-Determination, party won nearly 50% of the ballots, far ahead of the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo with 21%, and the Democratic League of Kosovo with nearly 14%, the state election, authorities said after nearly all the ballots were counted.

“Congratulations on the biggest victory in the history of the country,” a cheerful Kurti said after results were announced. “Now we have a lot of work ahead of us.”

The snap ballot on Sunday was scheduled after the Self-Determination party failed to form a government despite also winning the most votes in a Feb. 9 election, which led to a monthslong political deadlock.

It was not immediately clear whether the Self-Determination party has won 61 seats in the 120-member parliament to be able to rule alone. Kurti said a new parliament and a government will be formed as soon as possible.

“We don’t have time to lose and must move forward together as quickly as possible,” he said.

Hundreds of ruling party supporters gathered outside the party offices in Pristina in celebration, chanting Kurti's name.

The previous postelection stalemate marked the first time Kosovo could not form a government since it declared independence from Serbia in 2008 following a 1998-99 war that ended in a NATO intervention.

Kosovo has not approved a budget for next year, sparking concern over the already poor economy in the country of 2 million people. Lawmakers also are set to elect a new president in March as current President Vjosa Osmani’s mandate expires in early April.

After voting Sunday, Kurti urged Kosovo’s 1.9 million voters to turn out in large numbers to grant “more legitimacy for our institutions.”

Turnout was at around 44%, according to the state election authorities.

According to Kosovo’s election laws, 20 parliamentary seats are automatically assigned to ethnic Serb representatives and other minority parties.

Opposition parties have accused Kurti of authoritarianism and of alienating Kosovo’s U.S. and European Union allies since he came to power in 2021. Kurti also briefly served as prime minister in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lumir Abdixhiku from the Democratic League of Kosovo earlier on Sunday urged voters to “move away from the gloom, the deadlock and the division that has accompanied us for these years.”

A former political prisoner during Serbia’s rule in Kosovo, the 50-year-old Kurti has taken a tough stand in talks mediated by the European Union on normalizing relations with Belgrade. In response, the EU and the United States imposed punitive measures.

Kurti has promised to buy military equipment to boost security.

Ilmi Deliu, a 71-year-old pensioner from the capital, Pristina, said he hoped the election will bring a change or “we will end up in an abyss.”

“Young people no longer want to live here,” he said.

Tensions with restive ethnic Serbs in the north exploded in clashes in 2023 when scores of NATO-led peacekeepers were injured. In a positive step, ethnic Serb mayors this month took power peacefully there after a municipal vote.

Kurti has also agreed to accept third-country migrants deported from the United States as part of tough anti-immigration measures by the administration of President Donald Trump. One migrant has arrived so far, authorities have told The Associated Press.

Kosovo has one of the poorest economies in Europe. It is one of the six Western Balkan countries striving to eventually join the EU, but both Kosovo and Serbia have been told they must first normalize relations.