Kosovo: Vjosa Osmani becomes president of the country
Vjosa Osmani.
With this election, Kosovo has never been so politically stable.
Armend NIMANI AFP / File
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Vjosa Osmani, ally of the new Prime Minister of Kosovo Albin Kurti, was elected President of the country by the Parliament.
In Kosovo, the president is elected by indirect suffrage.
This election completes a radical change in the political landscape of the country but augurs tensions with neighboring Serbia.
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With our correspondent in the Balkans,
Laurent Rouy
Kosovo voters gave the February legislative elections more than 50% of their votes to the anti-system candidate, Albin Kurti.
On Sunday, he succeeded in having his candidate elected by Parliament for the post of president of the country.
38-year-old lawyer Vjosa Osmani is a center-right political figure.
Rejected by her party although very popular, she had made an alliance with the nationalist leftist formation of Kurti.
Osmani is the second woman elected president of Kosovo, a very conservative and patriarchal country.
Political stability
With this election, Kosovo will never have been so politically stable: all the institutions are firmly held by the new majority.
Significant reforms can be expected in this small country plagued by corruption and patronage.
On the other hand, the negotiations with Serbia, priorities for the European Union and Washington, but currently at a standstill, risk dragging on: the president made a very offensive speech against Belgrade.
Peace after an apology from Serbia
Vjosa Osmani asserts that peace will only be possible after an apology from Serbia.
She thus joins her Prime Minister Albin Kurti, for whom these negotiations are not a priority.
It's a safe bet that the new executive will further complicate the already execrable relations between the two capitals.
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See also:
Kosovo officially opens its embassy in Jerusalem, under criticism from the EU
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