Kosovo authorities have detained 109 individuals following allegations of vote manipulation that triggered a recount of last month’s early parliamentary election.
The arrests, announced on Friday, alongside the weeks-long recount, have intensified concerns that the Balkan nation’s year-long political crisis will persist.
Prosecutors in the southern town of Prizren confirmed the suspects face charges including falsifying election results, exerting pressure, issuing threats, and bribery.
Chief local Prosecutor Petrit Kryeziu revealed the alleged fraud affects 68,017 ballots in Prizren municipality alone.
The election saw a 44 per cent turnout from Kosovo’s 1.9 million eligible voters, with further detentions not ruled out. State election authorities had previously ordered a full recount of the 28 December vote due to widespread irregularities. Despite this, officials do not expect the overall outcome to change, as the manipulation is believed to relate to individual candidates within specific parties.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s Vetevendosje, or Self-Determination, party swept the vote in December winning some 51 per cent of the ballots. The same party previously failed to form a government despite also winning the most votes in an election in February 2025, which led to a monthslong political deadlock and the early election in December.
There are fears that the ballot recount will delay the formation of the new parliament and government, thus prolonging the political crisis. Kosovo already has been left without a budget for this year and if lawmakers miss an early March deadline to elect a new president, that would mean that another snap election must be held.
Kosovo, which split from Serbia in 2008 after a 1998-99 war, has one of the poorest economies in Europe. It is one of the six Western Balkan countries striving to eventually join the EU.