Vetëvendosje Lëvizja Vetëvendosje | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | LVV |
| Chairman | Albin Kurti |
| Parliamentary leader | Mimoza Kusari-Lila |
| Founded | 12 June 2005; 20 years ago (2005-06-12) |
| Preceded by | Kosova Action Network |
| Headquarters | Rr. Behije Dashi, nr. 31,Pristina, Kosovo |
| Newspaper | Përballja |
| Youth wing | Rinia e Vetëvendosjes (Kosovo) Forumi Rinor i Koalicionit VLEN (North Macedonia) |
| Membership |  36,500 (2018est.)[1] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Left-wing |
| European affiliation | Party of European Socialists (associated member) |
| International affiliation |
|
| Colours | Crimson Black |
| Slogan | With heart and mind, to self-determination![3] |
| Assembly of Kosovo | 48 / 120 |
| Mayors | 7 / 38 |
| Municipal councils | 182 / 994 |
| Assembly of North Macedonia | 1 / 120 |
| Party flag | |
 | |
| Website | |
| www | |
Vetëvendosje (Albanian:Lëvizja Vetëvendosje,lit. 'Self-Determination Movement',LVV orVV) is aleft-leaningdemocratic socialist[4][5]political party inKosovo.[6][7] It is a member of theProgressive Alliance, and an observer in theParty of European Socialists, and theSocialist International.
Vetëvendosje was founded in 2005 as agrassroots,anti-establishment, and pro-independence movement. It gained its initial prominence with protests against theUnited Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), and it later protested against the process of negotiations between the Kosovar delegations and Serbia over Kosovo's independence, claiming that the Kosovars' right to self-determination was not subject to Serbia's approval.[6] A major turning point for Vetëvendosje's position in Kosovo's politics took place in 2010, when the movement expanded its activity and registered as a citizen initiative at the Central Election Commission and ran for the2010 Kosovan parliamentary election, where it established itself as the third-largest political party in Kosovo.[8]
Vetëvendosje has been described as apopulistanti-establishment movement that shows hostility towards Kosovo's politicians on one hand, and international actors that have executive power over Kosovo on the other.[6] It promotes a socialist and welfare-oriented public order, political and civil freedoms, as well as internal and local self-governance and self-determination. On the other hand, Vetëvendosje supports policies to strengthen Kosovo's statehood, including the strengthening of the rule of law,police, andmilitary, which from a traditional sense would be considered right-wing ideas.[8] Despite itssovereignist stance, it still considers that Kosovo should eventually unify withAlbania via a referendum, as an expression of the will of the people of Kosovo.[6][7] They have also been described as anAlbanian nationalist movement, with their views being mainly framed based on Albanian history and perceived injustices done by the Serbian state to the people of Kosovo. They see all citizens of Kosovo, includingKosovo Serbs, as victims of Serbia's aggression.[9][10][11]
Vetëvendosje became the largest political party in Kosovo, having won 58 seats in the2021 Kosovan parliamentary election together with Vjosa Osmani'sGuxo list.
In theFebruary 2025 Kosovan parliamentary election it lost ten seats, winning only 48 and subsequently was unable to form a governement despite repeatedly trying, triggering the2025 Kosovo Assembly deadlock and the snapDecember 2025 Kosovan parliamentary election
Vetëvendosje's leaderAlbin Kurti currently serves as caretakerPrime Minister of Kosovo.
Vetëvendosje has its roots in the 1997-founded Kosova Action Network (KAN), a grassroots group promoting active citizenry and direct political participation of the masses.[12][13] KAN was founded in theUnited States by a group of international activists that supported the 1997 student protests in Kosovo against the occupation of the campus of theUniversity of Pristina by theYugoslav Police. During theKosovo War, KAN participated in documenting war crimes and during 1999 and 2000 KAN campaigned for the release of Albanianprisoners of war held by Serbia. In 2003, KAN moved its headquarters to Kosovo.[14] On 10 June 2004, KAN activists led byAlbin Kurti protested against theUnited Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), fiercely criticizing its 'undemocratic' character, due to its lack of accountability to Kosovar citizens.[6]
On 12 June 2005, KAN activists wrote the slogan "Jo Negociata - VETËVENDOSJE!" (Albanian for "No negotiations - SELF-DETERMINATION!") on the walls of UNMIK, marking the official transformation of KAN to Vetëvendosje. This was followed by the establishment of Vetëvendosje centers in most municipalities of Kosovo and in countries with a significantAlbanian diaspora. On 25 July 2005, Vetëvendosje activists distributed copies of theUN Resolution 1514 in front of the UNMIK headquarters to "remind" it that Kosovo's right to independence was guaranteed by that resolution.[14]
Criticizing UNMIK would become a central theme of Vetëvendosje's activities in the following years leading up to Kosovo's independence. They attempted to delegitimize UNMIK in front of the people of Kosovo by calling it an undemocratic neo-colonial regime whose employees were unelected but nevertheless took executive decisions. They blamed UNMIK for Kosovo's market being flooded by Serbian goods and for the unemployment that resulted from the public enterprises privatization process overseen by UNMIK.[8] In other activities, Vetëvendosje activists opposed thedecentralization oflocal government along ethnic lines and demanded the return of the bodies of missing persons from theKosovo War, as well as an official apology from Serbia for its crimes committed during theKosovo War.[14][8]
Apart from criticizing UNMIK, Vetëvendosje also criticized local politicians, arguing that they did not represent the people but instead served UNMIK and could take no decisions without UNMIK's approval.[8] In addition, it claimed that politicians in Kosovo could only be elected if they were approved by the international community. Therefore, the government was illegitimate.[6] They boycotted the2007 Kosovan parliamentary election and asked the people not to vote.[7]
On 10 February 2007 Vetëvendosje organized a large demonstration against theAhtisaari Plan and against the process of decentralization. The demonstration was attended by more than 60,000 people and took place in the streets ofPristina.UNMIK Riot Police were deployed after the rioters allegedly planned to storm the government offices. The UNMIK police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowd, which resulted in chaos. Two protesters were killed by the police.[15] The first protester was killed while in the crowd, while the second protester was hiding from the tear gas insideHotel Iliria when he got shot on the head. Apart from the two deaths, the protest resulted in an additional seven serious injuries and 73 minor injuries.[16] One protester who was shot next to his heart survived after a long state of coma and had to live with the projectile inside his chest until his natural death in 2020.[17]
A UNMIK internal investigation revealed that the protesters got killed by out-of-date rubber bullets that were fired from 10 of the Romanian members of the police force, but declined to file charges because it was unclear who of them had fired the fatal shots.[15] On the other hand, the leader of Vetëvendosje,Albin Kurti, got arrested and charged with three offences: leading masses of people believed to have committed criminal offences, calls for resistance, and disruption of police measures. In 2010, anEULEX judge sentenced him to 9 months in prison, but given that he had already spent 5 months in custody and another 5 in house arrest, he got released.[18][19]
Kosovar leaders accepted the Ahtisaari Plan and Kosovodeclared its independence in February 2008. The independence was initially supervised by theEuropean Union via itsInternational Civilian Representative for Kosovo (ICRK). Vetëvendosje argued that Kosovo had gone from UNMIK administration to EU administration and factually nothing had changed. It also opposed the idea of Kosovo being a multi-ethnic country, stressing that with Albanians constituting over 90% of the population, Kosovo was one of the most ethnically homogenous countries in Europe, and that minorities should be integrated via socio-economic development, not by dividing people along ethnic lines.[8]
Parallel to this, Vetëvendosje started to slowly shift towards directly participating in the political scene of Kosovo. In 2010 it registered at the Central Election Commission as a 'citizen initiative', to distinguish itself from political parties and to reject accusations that it was becoming part of Kosovo's political establishment, which it had criticized until that point.[6] It would later switch to the status of a political party in 2017 in order to be allowed to enter into pre-electoral coalitions.[7]
Vetëvendosje participated in the2010 Kosovan parliamentary election and earned 12.69% of the votes, establishing itself as the third-largest political group in theRepublic's Assembly.[6] The elections were won by theDemocratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) andHashim Thaçi remainedPrime Minister of Kosovo until 2014. During this time, Vetëvendosje combined street protests with active participation in the parliament. In 2012, Vetëvendosje activists and MPs tried to storm the government building in order to stop the privatization of energy distribution.[20] In 2013, Vetëvendosje MPs and activists attempted to physically block MPs of other parties from entering the Assembly building in order to stop the ratification of theBrussels Agreement signed by Kosovo's Prime-Minister Thaçi and Serbian Prime-MinisterIvica Dačić.[21]
In the2014 Kosovan parliamentary election, Vetëvendosje emerged as the third largest party having gained just 13.59% of the total votes. PDK came first, but this time it did not have the necessary number of MPs to form a government, giving an opportunity to the second-largest party, theDemocratic League of Kosovo (LDK) to establish the government if PDK failed. LDK formed a coalition with theAlliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) and theInitiative (NISMA) and Vetëvendosje supported the coalition but refused to join it, because of the support that the coalition would have from theSerb List. Overall, the coalition and its supporters had more than 2/3 of seats in the Assembly and it seemed likely that they would establish the next government if PDK failed.Ramush Haradinaj of AAK was the coalition's candidate for Prime Minister.
The coalition electedIsa Mustafa as speaker of the Assembly, but theConstitutional Court of Kosovo ruled that the election of Mustafa was unconstitutional and that the speaker of parliament belonged to PDK, as the election winner. This led to a crisis and an inability of anyone to form the government, despite the opposition holding over 2/3 of the seats in parliament.[22] In December 2014, LDK abandoned its coalition with the opposition and established a new government in coalition with PDK and the Serb List, with Isa Mustafa as the new Prime Minister.[23] The PDK-LDK-Serb List coalition gave the new government a solid 2/3 majority of seats in parliament, but it also meant that Vetëvendosje now remained the largest opposition party and Albin Kurti became the leader of opposition. Since PDK was very unpopular among the voters of the opposition parties, LDK's move to enable PDK to remain in power was seen as betrayal by Vetëvendosje and it served as a catalyst for the upcoming2015 Kosovo protests.
The protests started on 6 January 2015 and were led by Albin Kurti. The stated goals of the protests were the resignation of the Serb List ministerAleksandar Jablanović and the return of theTrepça Mines as a public institution of the Republic of Kosovo in order to prevent the privatization of the mines. The protests turned violent with dozens of protesters andKosovo Police officers being injured.[24]
In the following years, the Vetëvendosje-led opposition protested against the establishment of theKosovo Specialist Chambers which had the goal of trying leaders of theKosovo Liberation Army for war crimes. Vetëvendosje supported protests against the establishment of the court in June 2015.[25] In order to prevent the passing of the Specialist Chambers constitutional amendment, as well as to prevent the ratification of a 2015 deal with Serbia for the establishment of theCommunity of Serb Municipalities, Vetëvendosje MPs set off tear gas within the chambers of the Assembly.[26] This would become a general opposition strategy during this term, since Vetëvendosje did not have the necessary number of MPs to block the passing of legislation.[7]
The2017 Kosovan parliamentary election saw Vetëvendosje almost doubling in size and earning 27.49% of the votes, but trailing behind the newly-formed pre-electoral PDK-AAK-NISMA coalition. The winning coalition initially did not have the necessary number of MPs to establish the government, but it managed to get the necessary number after taking some MPs from LDK's coalition. The new government led by Ramush Haradinaj was weak and crumbled in 2019 after Haradinaj resigned.[27] This paved the way for the new2019 Kosovan parliamentary election, after which Vetëvendosje emerged as the first party after a very close race with LDK.
Vetëvendosje and LDK established a coalition shortly after the election and Vetëvendosje's Albin Kurti was elected as the Prime Minister of Kosovo on 3 February 2020. The coalition was short-lived and a couple of months later, LDK left the coalition after Kurti sacked the LDK minister Agim Veliu. This came among disagreements between Kurti and President Thaçi regarding the handling of theCOVID-19 pandemic and Veliu siding with Thaçi on the need to declare a state of emergency, which Kurti disagreed with.[28] The Kurti government was overthrown and replaced by a new short-lived government led by LDK, which ended after the Constitutional Court ruled that its election had been unconstitutional.
After the fall of the LDK-led government in late 2020,new elections were held in Kosovo in early 2021. Vetëvendosje won on a landslide, earning 50.28% of the vote and 58 out of 100 electable positions in the parliament. It then formed a coalition with the non-Serb MPs to create a stable government that ended up finishing its entire 4-year term, a first in Kosovo's political history. In theFebruary 2025 Kosovan parliamentary election, Vetëvendosje came first again, but it is not yet clear if it will have the necessary majority to form a government without a coalition with the other major parties in Kosovo.
TheNew Spirit Party (Albanian:Partia Fryma e Re) merged into Vetëvendosje on 31 March 2011.[29][30] The leader of New Spirit Party,Shpend Ahmeti became vice-chairman of Vetëvendosje and he won the local elections inPristina in 2013. He would go on to get re-elected as mayor of Pristina in 2017, before leaving Vetëvendosje soon after elections to join theSocial Democratic Party of Kosovo (PSD) in early 2018.[31][32][33][34]
The Socialist Party of Kosovo, led by Ilaz Kadolli, joined Vetëvendosje on 26 April 2013.[35] Kurti and Kadolli agreed that the merger would be in the interest of building a strong political and economical state. The party had no representatives in theKosovo Parliament, but had several in local governments.
ThePeople's Movement of Kosovo (LPK), with its structures in Kosovo and abroad joined Vetëvendosje on 23 July 2013, as stated from both leaders Kurti and Zekaj during the press conference in Vetevendosje headquarters inPristina:"...with the only aim to change social flow on the benefit of Albanian people".[36][37] Zekaj stated thatLPK had a wide membership withinKosovo and abroad, though he didn't provide numbers.[38] LPK started in 1982 as aMarxistnationalist grouping ofAlbanian diaspora organizations in Western Europe and is considered the origin of theKLA.[39] Most of its leadership moved on with the newly created partyDemocratic Party of Kosovo ofHashim Thaçi after thewar.
In 2017 and early 2018, a large number of MPs and mayors from Vetëvendosje resigned from the party and joined the already-extant PSD. Among the members who left Vetëvendosje were the former chairman of the New Spirit Party and mayor of PrishtinaShpend Ahmeti, former Vetëvendosje deputyDardan Molliqaj, and former chairman of VetëvendosjeVisar Ymeri. They were unhappy with the idea of Albin Kurti returning as chairman and accused the party of authoritarianism. In response, Vetëvendosje members accused those leaving that they had misused the party's budget for private gain, and of having sabotaged Vetëvendosje in the2017 Kosovan parliamentary election and the2017 Kosovan local elections.
Vetëvendosje has been described ascentre-left[44] andleft-wing[48] that bases its program on three main axes:meritocracy,developmental state, andwelfare state.[49][50] Vetëvendosje supports thefree market economy with an active role of the state throughownership of key industries,export promotion andimport substitution. Meritocracy, alternatively called justice state by Vetëvendosje, consists ofradical transparency,checks and balances, as well asseparation of powers and no interference from the government in justice. Finally, the welfare state is supposed to ensureequality of outcomes, and not justopportunities, which is achieved throughprogressive taxation and protection ofminorities andvulnerable groups.[51] Furthermore, Vetëvendosje adheres toAlbanian nationalism andpopulism in its policies regarding Kosovo's future, relations withAlbania andethnic Albanians in the Balkans and the wider diaspora.[52][53] It is considered as the leading nationalist party in the contemporary Albanian world, and has advocated for the protection of the Albanians inPreševo Valley andNorth Macedonia as well as a referendum on potential unification of Kosovo with neighbouring Albania.[54]
The first pillar of Vetëvendosje's political program is the justice state, through which Vetëvendosje seeks to change legislation, combat corruption and increase citizens' trust on the state institutions. Vetëvendosje wants to amend Kosovo'sconstitution and to remove, among others, the parts that derive from theAhtisaari Plan, UNMIK regulations, and Yugoslav legislation. It additionally strives to ensure clear independence for the judiciary and introduce more checks and balances.[51]
Anti-corruption is one of the pillars of the justice state according to Vetëvendosje. In early 2023, the Kosovo parliament passed the Vetëvendosje-sponsoredLaw for the State Bureau for the Confiscation of Illegal Wealth. The law aims to give the state the means to confiscate wealth whose origin cannot be proven, thus allowing it to combat money laundering and corruption.[55] The law had been part of the party's electoral platform.[51] Vetëvendosje is also pushing for vetting in the justice system intending to remove judges and prosecutors who fail the process. In 2022, theVenice Commission advised in favor of the government's vetting plan.[56]
The second pillar of Vetëvendosje's program is thedevelopmental state model. Through the developmental state, Vetëvendosje seeks to develop the economy of Kosovo by providing fiscal support to certain sectors of the economy and protecting vital industries from foreign competition.
Vetëvendosje strives to implementprogressive taxation onincome andsales, as well as introduce changes of thetaxes on profits.[51] Its government has already increasedproperty taxes by increasing the valuation of residential buildings in richer areas to increase the tax base.[57] In addition, Vetëvendosje strives for Kosovo to have acommon currency withAlbania by abandoning theeuro, and to establish a state-owneddevelopment bank.[58][51][59]
In 2023, the Vetëvendosje government established asovereign wealth fund and is in the process of abolishing the Kosovo Privatization Agency, whose assets are being taken over by the Sovereign Fund.[60] Vetëvendosje constantly criticized the privatization process in Kosovo, calling it "a corruption model, that contributed to increasing unemployment, ruining the economy, and halting the economic development of the country".[61] The newly-established Sovereign Wealth Fund will halt the process of privatization and it will manage Kosovo's public assets, collecting dividends from profitable state enterprises and subsidizing the ones that struggle.
When it comes to environmental issues, Vetëvendosje supports green alternatives to energy production despite Kosovo's endowment with large amounts of lignite. It has vocally opposed the construction of a new coal-powered plant, theKosova C, and its government refused to connect Kosovo to theTrans Adriatic Gas Pipeline.[62][63] In 2022, the Vetëvendosje-led government issued a project for the generation ofcentral heating energy via solar energy.[64]
The government of Vetëvendosje has increased agricultural subsidies in its first year in governance by over 200% compared to the budget of 2021.[65] It has also provided large amounts of subsidies to theTrepča Mines, which are managed by a struggling state-owned company.[66] Vetëvendosje considers agriculture and mining a vital strategic interest of Kosovo.[51]
When it comes to education, Vetëvendosje aims to adopt thedual education system, which is mostly practiced inGermany,Austria andSwitzerland, countries with significantAlbanian diaspora. It sees the switch to the dual education system as necessary to increase the quality of education in general.[67]
Thewelfare state is the third pillar of Vetëvendosje's political program. Vetëvendosje wants to combatincome inequality,discrimination against women and against minorities. It wants to improve the provision of healthcare services by introducinghealth insurance based on theBismarck Model.[51]
Vetëvendosje wants to reform the labor law. It wants to allow fathers to takeparental leave, which is allowed only for the mother by the current legislation. Vetëvendosje further seeks to limit working hours to 40 per week and to introduceseverance payments for laid-off workers. It further wants to combat informal employment and to increase the power ofworkers' unions by changing the law on unions.[51]
Vetëvendosje sees Kosovo's ability to defend itself as vital to the country's interests, despite the presence ofinternational peacekeepers in the country. Its government quadrupled annual military spending in 2023, compared to the year in which the party took power.[68] The party has entertained the idea of introducing mandatorymilitary conscription in Kosovo, based on EU andNATO standards.[51][69] The party seeks to joinNATO'sPartnership for Peace and eventually the alliance itself.
Vetëvendosje wants Kosovo to cooperate with all countries based on theprinciple of reciprocity.[51][70] Vetëvendosje's government's insistence on reciprocity has even led to clashes inNorth Kosovo and to frictions with Kosovo's international partners, after its government decided to enforce the use of Kosovo'svehicle registration plates in the north of the country.[71]
On the issue of ethnic minorities, Vetëvendosje supports the cooperation between all ethnic groups in Kosovo. Its government coalition contains almost all minority MPs, except theSerb List, which Vetëvendosje considers a tool of Serbia's presidentAleksandar Vučić to destabilize Kosovo. Instead, the Vetëvendosje government wants to cooperate with Kosovo Serbs who recognize the independence of Kosovo. Following the mass resignation of members of the Kosovo Government by the Serb List, Vetëvendosje's Kurti appointedNenad Rašić as Minister for Communities and Returns.[72]
Vetëvendosje has been described as anationalist party,[73] and they want to amend Kosovo's constitution to remove the third article, which forbids the unification of Kosovo with other countries. According to the leader of Vetëvendosje,Albin Kurti, Kosovo should be allowed tounify with Albania if the people express this will through a referendum.[74][75][76]
| # | Chairman | Born–Died | Term start | Term end | Time in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Albin Kurti | .jpg) | 1975– | 12 June 2005 | 28 February 2015 | 9 years, 261 days |
| 2 | Visar Ymeri |  | 1973– | 1 March 2015 | 2 January 2018 | 2 years, 307 days |
| (1) | Albin Kurti | | 1975– | 21 January 2018 | Incumbent | 7 years, 309 days |
After five years of participating in Kosovo's political scene through protests and demonstrations, Vetëvendosje took the decision to participate in the2010 Kosovan parliamentary election in its fifth anniversary as a political movement. After the decision was taken,Albin Kurti got arrested byEULEX in relation to the 10 February 2007 protest.[77][78][79][80] Kurti would go on and get sentenced to 9 months in prison, but given that he had already spent 5 months in custody and another 5 in house arrest for the same case, he got released.[18][19]
In December 2010, Vetëvendosje participated in the nationalelections of 2010 in coalition withLB and obtained 12.66% of the votes, which translated to 14 seats at the parliament.[81] Local and international observers detected many irregularities, including a participation rate of 95% certain municipalities, which were strongholds of thePDK.[82][83] Vetëvendosje andLDK contested the election results in three voting centers and the elections got repeated in three municipalities, leading to a slight increase in the vote share of Vetëvendosje.[84][85] Vetëvendosje and LB ended their coalition on 20 September 2011, after disagreements on distribution of funds. The two MPs from LB left the Vetëvendosje parliamentary group, reducing it to 12 members.[86][87]
In the 2014 elections, Vetëvendosje received 13.59% (99,397 votes), remaining the third strongest political force in theKosovo Assembly with 16 seats.[88] Despite PDK's electoral victory, Vetëvendosje, along with theLDK-AAK-Nisma coalition, tried to thwart PDK by attempting to form a new government together.[89] A decision by theConstitutional Court of Kosovo that deemedIsa Mustafa's election asChairman of the Assembly of Kosovo unconstitutional, led to the breakup of the LDK-AAK-Nisma coalition and LDK joining a coalition with PDK, in which Isa Mustafa assumed the position ofprime minister.[90] This led to Vetëvendosje taking the role of leader of the opposition, with AAK and NISMA being part of it. The Vetëvendosje-led opposition was very aggressive, opposing theborder demarcation between Kosovo and Montenegro and the formation of theAssociation of Serb Municipalities. LDK was accused of betraying the opposition and keeping PDK in power. The opposition organized massivedemonstrations on the streets, and it used tear-gas to block meetings of the parliament.[91][92]
In the 2017 elections, Vetëvendosje received 27.49% (200,132 votes) making it the biggest political party in theKosovo Assembly with 32 seats.[93] In comparison to the 2014 elections, Vetëvendosje doubled in size. Despite being the biggest individual party and parliamentary group, Vetëvendosje remained behind thePANA coalition and remained in opposition. In 2018, 12 MPs left Vetëvendosje and created theGroup of the Independent Deputies, which would later join theSocial Democratic Party of Kosovo (PSD). In addition, Vetëvendosje MP Donika Kadaj-Bujupi rejoinedAAK. This split reduced the Vetëvendosje parliamentary group to 19 seats.[94]
In the early elections of 2019 which were called due to the resignation of Prime Minister at the timeRamush Haradinaj, Vetëvendosje received 26.27% (221,001 votes), remaining the biggest political party in theKosovo Assembly with 29 seats, despite its split one year prior to the elections. Its total number of votes increased by over 10% relative to the previous election, but due to a higher participation rate, it received a smaller share of seats in the assembly. Vetëvendosje formed a coalition with LDK in February 2020 after months of negotiations, withAlbin Kurti becomingprime minister of Kosovo. After a disagreement about the handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, Kurti sacked the LDK minister Agim Veliu.[95] In retaliation, LDK initiated amotion of no confidence against theKurti government, which passed at the parliament and the Kurti government was overthrown. Apart from Veliu's sacking, LDK blamed Vetëvendosje for ruining Kosovo's relations with the US, after Kurti exchanged skirmishes with the US envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue,Richard Grenell.[96][97][98] Vetëvendosje remained in opposition and Kurti with the former government ministers from Vetëvendosje could not return to the parliament because they had resigned before taking executive roles, leaving them out of Kosovo's institutional life until the next election.[99]
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After the fall of the Kurti government, LDK, together with AAK, NISMA, the Serb List, and other minorities, formed a new government on 3 June 2020. The government was elected with 61 votes, which was the critical minimum required to form a government. In December 2020, theConstitutional Court deemed the LDK-led government illegal, because one of the 61 MPs that voted for it had been convicted for corruption, meaning that he had lost his valid mandate before voting for the government.[100] This led to new elections, which were held on 14 February 2021. Vetëvendosje ran together withGuxo. Because of a conviction for setting off tear gas, Albin Kurti was not allowed to run for a seat at the parliament.[101] Vetëvendosje won the elections and experienced a significant increase in its vote share, receiving 50.28% of the total votes. The common list of VV and Guxo gained 58 seats, with 51 for VV and 7 for Guxo.[102] As two elected members of Guxo joined the government and Osmani was elected President, three of the Guxo seats went to the following names on the elected list, increasing VV number to 53.[103] In April 2021, Adelina Grainca, former PDK deputy joined Vetëvendosje, increasing its number of MPs to 54.[104]
| Year | Votes | % | Overall seats won | Albanian seats | Position | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 88,652 | 12.69% | 14 / 120 | 14 / 100 | 3rd | 14 | Opposition |
| 2014 | 99,397 | 13.59% | 16 / 120 | 16 / 100 |  3rd | 2 | Opposition |
| 2017 | 200,135 | 27.49% | 32 / 120 | 32 / 100 | 1st | 16 | Opposition |
| 2019 | 221,001 | 26.27% | 29 / 120 | 29 / 100 | 1st |  3 | Coalition (2019–2020) |
| Opposition (2020–2021) | |||||||
| 2021 | 438,335 | 50.28% | 58 / 120 | 58 / 100 | 1st | 29 | Coalition |
| Feb 2025 | 396,787 | 42.30% | 48 / 120 | 48 / 100 | 1st | 10 |
Vetëvendosje participated in the2013 local elections, which marked Vetëvendosje's first ever participation in local elections.Shpend Ahmeti from Vetëvendosje won the elections in the capitalPristina overLDK leader and former mayorIsa Mustafa. Until then, Pristina was considered a LDK stronghold.[32][33][34] Vetëvendosje managed to gain local assembly seats in most of Kosovo's municipalities, but it did not win any other mayoral race. Vetëvendosje failed to win local assembly seats in the following municipalities:Dragash,Leposavić,Zvečan,Zubin Potok,Novo Brdo,Gračanica,Mamusha,Parteš,Klokot, andNorth Mitrovica.[105] Overall, Vetëvendosje came fourth with a decrease in votes in comparison to the 2010 parliamentary election.[106] A session of the party's General Council was called on December 15, 2013 which between other things discussed these results as well as necessary action in response to them. According to Shpend Ahmeti's words during an interview withTop Channel, there were also changes in the statute of Vetëvendosje, which came out of the General Council meeting.[107]
In the2017 local elections, Vetëvendosje won in three municipalities. Vetëvendosje won a second term inPristina withShpend Ahmeti and also won inPrizren with Mytaher Haskuka and inKamenica with Qendron Kastrati. Prior to Vetëvendosje's victory, Prizren was ruled byPDK for 18 years and was called PDK's 'Jerusalem'.[108] Shpend Ahmeti and Qendron Kastrati left Vetëvendosje in early 2018 after the split of the movement.[109][110] In the summer of 2019, Agim Bahtiri, mayor ofMitrovica joined Vetëvendosje.[111] After the resignation of mayor Agim Veliu, an extraordinary election was held inPodujevë on 29 November 2020. Vetëvendosje's Shpejtim Bulliqi won the election and is now the mayor of Podujeva until the regular 2021 election.[112]
Vetëvendosje participated in the2021 local elections and won 4 municipalities and 193 municipal council positions.
After the resignation of four mayors in the north of Kosovo and the subsequent boycott by the Serb local majority, Vetëvendoje won the2023 elections inLeposavić andNorth Mitrovica, with a turnout of 1.06% and 4.62%, respectively. The election result was recognized by the US and other Western countries, but groups of local Serbs refused to allow the newly-elected mayors to enter their offices.Kosovo government's decision to deploy the Special Operations Unit of theKosovo Police to the northern municipalities to enable the mayors to enter their offices led to international backlash and a clash between Kosovo and some of its Western partners. TheEU introduced some measures against the government of Kosovo.
Over time, Vetëvendosje has engaged in multiple controversial activities, such as "naming and shaming" of political leaders, damaging property belonging to UNMIK (and laterEULEX), campaigning against the consumption of goods imported from Serbia and actively hijacking and demolishing trucks coming from Serbia, throwing paint at politicians, and other similar violent measures.[8] In 2007, Vetëvendosje activists threw rotten eggs atBoris Tadić, thepresident of Serbia, when he visited Kosovo. They also poured red paint on the streets leading to the presidential residence of Kosovo whenMartti Ahtisaari visited Kosovo, as a symbol for the blood spilled in the Kosovo war, which, according to Vetëvendosje, Ahtisaari was walking over with hisplan for Kosovo's monitored independence.[14]
In anAugust 2009 protest that turned violent, Vetëvendosje activists overturned and damaged 28 EULEX vehicles.[113] In March 2016, activists of Vetëvendosje overturned two trucks carrying Serbian goods in a protest against the Serbian decision not to accept Kosovo Albanian schoolbooks in the Albanian-inhabitedPreševo Valley in southern Serbia.[114][115][116][117]
Similar activities continued to take place even within Kosovo's institutions, with Vetëvendosjemembers of parliament releasingtear gas inside the parliament chamber to prevent legislation from going through when the ruling parties had the required majority to pass the legislation.[7] Parallel to this, Vetëvendosje, in cooperation with theAlliance for the Future of Kosovo and theSocial Democratic Initiative had organized some of the largestprotests in Kosovo's post-independence history in front of the parliament, to exert pressure on the governing parties' MPs and prevent them from passing the legislation.
When accused that their actions were extreme, Vetëvendosje leaders claimed that what they did was "radical," but not "extreme," and that throwing eggs at politicians only looked violent because the general situation in Kosovo was calm.[9]
On 10 December 2012,US AmbassadorTracey Ann Jacobson accused Vetëvendosje of having sent a threatening letter to formerState SecretaryMadeleine Albright.[118][119] Vetëvendosje officially replied four days later, stating that "they were amazed with the accusations, and Kurti never sent any letter to Mrs. Albright, but if someone had proof should make it available to the public".[120][121] They explained that they had urged citizens of Kosovo to mail to companies which were racing for the privatization ofPTK while explaining to them the harm that the privatization was causing the country's economy and the wrong practices applied during the process. Apparently, one of the runners was aconsortium ofPortugal Telecom withAlbright Capital Management,[122][123] which dropped out of the race in January 2013.[124][125][126]
"We did not threaten anyone and we definitely did not, as you claim, try to deter Ms. Albright from visiting Kosovo. Indeed, after this letter of September 1, Ms. Albright visited Kosovo in November, without the slightest opposition from VETËVENDOSJE! During her visit, she even met our deputies."[120]
On 27 June 2013, the movement organized a protest against the ratification of theagreement between Prime Minister of KosovoHashim Thaçi and Prime Minister of SerbiaIvica Dačić during the latest round of political negotiations between Pristina and Belgrade in Brussels hosted byCatherine Ashton.[127] Vetëvendosje tried to block all entrances to the parliament building, in order to hinder the assembly members from entering, thus preventing the agreement for being ratified. The protest didn't succeed, and the agreement was voted from the majority of the assembly representatives.[128][129] During the protest, U.S. ambassadorTracey Ann Jacobson resulted with an injury on her right arm[130] while entering from a secondary entrance together with some assembly members. Although the video evidence[131] showed no physical contact between protesters and ambassador, confirmed as well byLDK assemblymanHaki Demolli[132] who entered the building together with the ambassador, the incident aggravated the already difficult relationship between theU.S. State Department and Vetëvendosje. The reaction was prompt, following the US embassy official statement,[133] Vetëvendosje was criticized by Kosovo government instances,[134][135] political factors,[136][137] as well as public opinion.[138] Even long-time supporter of Vetëvendosje, formerOSCE ambassadorWilliam G. Walker, described the action as a "big mistake".[139] According toZëri newspaper, the U.S. State Department calledKosovo's ambassador Akan Ismajli in Washington, D.C., requiring official explanations, though no comments came from official sources within Kosovo.[140]
"As we have stressed with all leaders and particularly to Vetëvendosje, while the United States respects citizens’ rights to free speech and expression, we deplore the use of violent tactics in obstructing the democratic process. Freedom of speech does not mean the right to restrict the freedom of movement of others. Vetëvendosje’s continued reliance on violent tactics undermines Kosovo’s reputation as an emerging democracy."[133]
The reaction from Vetëvendosje was vague, with soon-to-be-gone Alma Lama being the first one to personally apologize to the U.S. ambassador.[141] On 1 July 2013,Glauk Konjufca apologized to all foreign representatives visiting the Kosovo parliament on that day: "Specifically, there is the case of U.S. ambassador, but even other foreign representatives to whom we apologize in case they have experienced any unpleasant situation. But, analyzing the harm that the agreement causes, it sounded reasonable to us to act the way we did though I don't deny having possibly made some mistakes."[142]The overall positioning of Vetëvendosje was described byShpend Ahmeti statement: "The protest was not violent, we didn't want anyone to get hurt, we are sorry if someone actually did, but the negative effects of the agreement overrun any side effects of the protest", adding "the government is trying to show us asanti-American, which we are not".[143]
The deputy assistant of Secretary of State in theBureau of European and Eurasian AffairsPhilip Reeker, during his visit to Pristina a few days later, was harsh and very direct with Vetëvendosje, calling them "clowns who want to be violent".[144][145][146] Vetëvendosje responded by calling Reekers' accusations as "unfair and non-democratic"[147] and issuing a letter of complaint to the U.S. Department of State.[148]
Vetëvendosje has tried to expand to other neighboring countries too. It was accused for interfering in internal politics ofAlbania andNorth Macedonia by having its members endorse candidates for MPs in the parliaments of those countries, directly supporting candidates running in elections, and by having its own members with dual citizenship running in elections and using their connection to Vetëvendosje to gather support. In the2021 Albanian parliamentary election, Vetëvendosje's center in Albania, which functions as anonprofit organization there, supported three independent candidates that were running in elections.[149][150] Neither of those managed to get elected.
Something similar happened in the2024 North Macedonian parliamentary election, with Vetëvendosje leader Albin Kurti being a major reason for the formation of theVLEN Coalition, which played a key role in the election ofHristijan Mickoski as thePrime Minister of North Macedonia. The interference, which had the goal of sidelining the AlbanianDemocratic Union for Integration had the unintended consequence of taking Vetëvendosje's partnerSocial Democratic Union of Macedonia into opposition.[151] Three of Vetëvendosje's own members ran for MPs inside the VLEN Coalition and one of them, Bekim Qoku, managed to get elected into theAssembly of North Macedonia.[152]
In a similar fashion, Vetëvendosje has endorsedJoe Biden for president of theUnited States in the2020 United States elections, theSocial Democratic Party of Germany ofOlaf Scholz in the2021 German federal election, and theSocial Democratic Party of Switzerland in the2023 Swiss federal election, by calling on the Albanian diaspora in those countries to vote for its endorsed candidates.[153][154]
These actions by Vetëvendosje have been criticized by diplomats who see these actions as dangerous for the interaction between theGovernment of Kosovo with foreign governments, especially when the endorsed candidates do not get elected. The tense relations between Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and thePrime Minister of AlbaniaEdi Rama have sometimes been attributed to Vetëvendosje's support for Rama's rivals in the Albanian election of 2021.
Vetëvendosje activists and politicians have often ignored and contested the symbols of the Republic of Kosovo, including theflag and anthem.[155]Visar Ymeri, chairman of Vetëvendosje at the time, refused to stand up for the anthem when participating in a congress of theAKR in 2017.[156] When asked about it, Ymeri said that he confused it for a melody of Beethoven.[157] In an interview before the 2019 parliamentary elections, Albin Kurti, chairman of Vetëvendosje, said that "Of course that I will respect (the symbols of Kosovo) as Prime Minister. But keep in mind that I am chairman of Vetëvendosje and I also represent those values that are important to us. The(Albanian) anthem is not just Albania's, it belongs to all Albanians. As Albanians, we have many things in common, including the(Albanian) flag, history, and so on. The flag of Kosovo has no history and no value other than its geographical value. We know that (adopting this flag) was a mistake, but now we have no choice but to accept it."[158]
In 2023 the European Union announced sanctions onKosovo for what the bloc said wasAlbin Kurti government role in stoking ethnic tensions in northern Kosovo, which has a Serb majority,[159][160] including restrictions on funding and participation.[161][162]
