Gogic: Everyone in Kosovo is losing due to the failure to form institutions, political elites are avoiding responsibility

Political scientist Ognjen Gogic stated that due to the failure to form institutions, Kosovo is in an institutional vacuum that negatively affects everyone living there. He said this is the result of political irresponsibility, not only on the part of the ruling Self-Determination Movement, but also other political elites within the Albanian community who are “avoiding responsibility.”

“Kosovo is in a state of institutional vacuum. There is no legitimate and legal assembly or government. The institutions are in an acting capacity and, as such, cannot make decisions. No draft law can be submitted to the assembly, and the assembly cannot adopt it. On the other hand, the government is operating in a technical mandate and can only make a limited number of decisions, which cannot address essential issues,” Gogic explained to Kosovo Online.

Because of this situation, he emphasizes, everyone is losing.

“Everyone living in Kosovo is at a loss because no problems can be resolved. No act can be passed that meaningfully regulates any area. This, of course, affects the economy and citizens most directly, while Kosovo's international obligations are also left hanging. Among other things, the consequences are also being felt in the context of the dialogue process,” Gogic said.

He notes that one of the key consequences is that Kosovo cannot access funds from the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans, nor can it begin the reforms necessary for progress toward European integration.

“And this is not a natural state of affairs. It affects all sectors, because no institution can make valid and legitimate decisions,” Gogic stressed.

He warns that the institutional crisis in Kosovo must be viewed in a multilayered way.

“If a government were formed with an unstable majority, would it be more successful in governing or would it make harmful decisions? Would a short-lived coalition that leads to new elections be the solution? This situation is not normal, but it is not the root cause of the problem either,” Gogic said.

He believes Kosovo is facing the fact that, despite the Self-Determination Movement holding a strong majority over the past four years, it has still faced major issues.

“Many draft laws were left unadopted, and there was no majority in the parliament. Many of the measures taken affected Serbian communities, but there were general issues as well, like in education... So even having a legitimately elected government does not in itself guarantee decisions will be made in the right direction,” he emphasized.

Even though many perceive the current state as a deep political crisis, Gogic says Kosovo is actually characterized by “institutional crises.”

“We have seen this a lot in previous years. In fact, the parliamentary stability of the last four years was more of an exception than the rule. Kosovo has essentially returned to its ‘natural state’ – political turbulence. The specific problem now is that there is a dominant party, Self-Determination. But it is an anti-system party and, as such, lacks coalition potential. Even though it has strong support from the citizens, especially Albanians, it does not have the ability to reach an agreement with other parties to form a majority,” Gogic said.

He sees a potential solution either in a leveling of voter support for the dominant party, or its continued stagnation, which would open space for other parties to form stable coalitions.

However, he points out that the bigger issue is “the irresponsibility of political elites” and “their avoidance of accountability.”

“This situation generally shows the deep irresponsibility of Kosovo’s political elites, especially within the Albanian parties. The problem doesn’t lie solely with the current ruling Self-Determination Movement, which is unable to form a majority. The opposition, too, refuses to take responsibility. They have never indicated that they are ready to form a government if the opportunity arises or that they have an agreement to secure a majority. The reality is that all political actors are running from responsibility, they prefer to keep Kosovo in this ‘acting government’ state rather than take a step toward forming a parliamentary majority,” Gogic concluded.