Guide to Kosovo's election

Voters outside of a voting station in Kosovo (Credit: AP/Darko Vojinovic)

Kosovo, a small region in southern Europe, is holding elections on Sunday for a new parliament, its fourth election since it was founded in 2008.

While 1.9 million people will be voting for 120 seats in the Assembly of Kosovo, this election will also determine how the region will deal with high unemployment, corruption, low standard of healthcare and negotiations with Serbia.

Who's running?

The two front runners are the Democratic League for Kosovo (LDK) and Vetevendosje, a nationalist-left party.

Vjosa Osmani, a 38-year-old law professor, is running as the head of the LDK. If elected, she will be Kosovo's first female prime minister.

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), the second largest party after the LDK is also in the running and was part of the coalition government that was formed in 2017. The PDK is led by Kadri Veseli, a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

This election is the result of the former prime minister, Ramush Haradinaj, stepping down from his role in July after he was invited for questioning by the Hague-based court, a body investigating war crimes that took place during the 1998-1999 war.

Kosovo opinion polls have said that the population is dissatisfied with Haradinaj's track record, and the coalition government he was apart of.

Vjosa Osmani says she aims to clean up Kosovo's 'nasty politics' (Credit: AP Photo)

Negotiations between Kosovo and Serbia

This election comes during a period of 'normalization' between Kosovo and Serbia. The two have been hostile towards each other since the 1998-1999 war in which Kosovo fought for independence from Serbia.

The war is remembered for its violence and the ethnic cleansing of Albanians from what is now Kosovo. The United States and the European Union see tension between the two as a threat to stability in Eastern Europe.

Both aspire to join the EU, and participated in EU-brokered talks in 2011. However, there has been little progress between them since the talks began and formal negotiations have stalled for the past two years.

In 2018, Kosovo created a 100% tax on imported Serbian goods. Kosovo is also not recognized by some multi-national organisations, such as the UN.

International organisations will be monitoring over one hundred voting stations.