PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo’s legislature on Saturday swore in the 120 lawmakers who will sit in the newly elected Assembly, or Parliament, after procedural disputes between the political parties but failed twice to elect a new speaker, a process which may take the country into a prolonged legislative crisis
All parties who won seats in the Feb. 9 election voted unanimously in favor of taking up their mandates, opening the way to the election of the new speaker and deputy speakers.
The left-wing Self-Determination Movement, or Vetevendosje!, of acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti won 48 out of 120 seats in the election, falling short of the majority needed to elect a new speaker or to form a cabinet on its own. In 2021, the party won 58 seats.
The Vetevendosje! nominee for speaker, Albulena Haxhiu, was defeated in two successive ballots, with 57 votes, falling short of the 61 needed in a 120-seat parliament.
Parliament is due to convene on Monday, but without a speaker in place, the procedure for the session is unclear. The Constitution has not set the length of time needed for electing the new speaker.
Once the speaker and deputy speakers are elected, Kurti will be formally nominated as prime minister and must receive a simple majority, or 61 votes, to form a cabinet.
Kurti and the three main opposition parties have all ruled out working together in a coalition. The center-right Democratic Party of Kosovo, or PDK, holds 24 seats, the conservative governing Democratic League of Kosovo, or LDK, won 20 seats, and the right-wing Alliance for Kosovo’s Future, AAK, has eight seats.
Ten seats are reserved for Kosovo's ethnic Serb minority, nine of them won by the Srpska Lista party which is directly supported by the Serbian government in Belgrade.
Kurti has turned to 10 non-Serb minority MPs and one ethnic Serb lawmaker, but he would still need at least two other votes.
If Kurti fails to form a cabinet, the president is entitled to turn to any of the other parties. If no party can form a cabinet, the country will face another parliamentary election.
A new cabinet is needed not only to run the economy and other services, but also proceed with the 14-year-long normalization talks with Serbia which have stalled.
Around 11,400 people died, mostly from Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian majority, in the 1998-1999 war in Kosovo, which was formerly a province of Serbia. A 78-day NATO air campaign ended the fighting and pushed Serbian forces out.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, with most Western nations recognizing its sovereignty, but Serbia and its allies Russia and China don’t.
The EU and the United States have urged Kosovo and Serbia to implement agreements reached two years ago that include a commitment by Kosovo to establish an Association of Serb-Majority Municipalities and Serbia’s obligation to provide de facto recognition of Kosovo.
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Semini reported from Kavaja, Albania.
FILE - Albin Kurti, president of the left-wing Vetevendosje! party, makes statements following results of a parliamentary election, in Pristina, Kosovo, Sunday, Feb. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Vlasov Sulaj, File)
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order aiming to slash public subsidies to PBS and NPR as he alleged “bias” in the broadcasters’ reporting.
The order instructs the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other federal agencies “to cease Federal funding for NPR and PBS" and further requires that that they work to root out indirect sources of public financing for the news organizations. The White House, in a social media posting announcing the signing, said the outlets “receive millions from taxpayers to spread radical, woke propaganda disguised as 'news.'”
It's the latest move by Trump and his administration to utilize federal powers to control or hamstring institutions whose actions or viewpoints he disagrees with. Since taking office, Trump has ousted leaders, placed staff on administrative leave and cut off hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to artists, libraries, museums, theaters and others, through takeovers of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Trump has also pushed to withhold federal research and education funds from universities and punish law firms unless they agreed to eliminate diversity programs and other measures Trump has found objectionable.
The broadcasters get roughly half a billion dollars in public money through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and have been preparing for the possibility of stiff cuts since Trump's election, as Republicans have long complained about them.
Paula Kerger, PBS’ CEO and president, said in a statement last month that the Trump administration’s effort to rescind funding for public media would “disrupt the essential service PBS and local member stations provide to the American people.”
“There’s nothing more American than PBS, and our work is only possible because of the bipartisan support we have always received from Congress,” she said. “This public-private partnership allows us to help prepare millions of children for success in school and in life and also supports enriching and inspiring programs of the highest quality.”
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting sued Trump earlier this week over his move to fire three members of its five-person board, contending that the president was exceeding his authority and that the move would deprive the board of a quorum needed to conduct business.
Just two weeks ago, the White House said it would be asking Congress to rescind funding for the CPB as part of a $9.1 billion package of cuts. That package, however, which budget director Russell Vought said would likely be the first of several, has not yet been sent to Capitol Hill.
The move against PBS and NPR comes as his administration has been working to dismantle the U.S. Agency for Global Media, including Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which were designed to model independent news gathering globally in societies that restrict the press. Those efforts have faced pushback from federal courts, who have ruled in some cases that the Trump administration may have overstepped its authority in holding back funds appropriated to the outlets by Congress.
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AP Congressional Correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed.
President Donald Trump arrives to give a commencement address at the University of Alabama, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Tuscaloosa, Ala. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
FILE - The headquarters for National Public Radio (NPR) is seen in Washington, April 15, 2013. AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)
