Stories
Kosovo Lawmakers Elect New President in Late-Night Vote to Avert Snap Election
N
News18•07-10-2026, 13:30
Kosovo Lawmakers Elect New President in Late-Night Vote to Avert Snap Election
- •Economist and academic Justina Shiroka Pula was elected as Kosovo's new president during a marathon late-night session, averting a snap election.
- •The election resolves a political crisis that caused a legislative deadlock for over 19 months and two early parliamentary elections.
- •Lawmakers also approved a controversial law limiting the powers of a special war crimes court in The Hague just before the presidential vote.
- •Shiroka Pula secured 81 votes in the 120-seat parliament and becomes Kosovo's third female president since post-war independence.
- •Her election followed weeks of protests sparked by The Hague court's conviction of four former Kosovo wartime rebel leaders.
Key Questions Answered
Lawmakers in Kosovo elected economist and academic Justina Shiroka Pula as the country's new president during a marathon late-night session.
Lawmakers approved a law that limits the powers of a special court based in The Hague, Netherlands, which investigates war crimes committed during the 1998-99 war for independence.
Thousands of protesters gathered outside to demand that the legislature pass the controversial law limiting the powers of the war crimes court known as the Specialist Chambers.
