Kosovars are called to polls on Sunday to elect all 120 Assembly members. The election was scheduled for November 2014, but Prime Minister Hashim Thaci (left picture), in a joint decision with the majority of parties, decided to hold an early election in June, after current AMs could not agree to hold a vote on the creation of a Kosovar army. Serb deputies prevented the parliamentary vote on the army from being held, since under the laws of Kosovo, at least two thirds of ethnic minority AMs must be present in the voting so that it is valid. Serbian AMs boycotted the session, and the vote on the armed forces could thus not be held.

Thaçi's Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) will seek to win another four-year term to run the country (so far it has done in coalition with several minor parties), but it must first convince a population hit by the lack of jobs (which forcing thousands of Kosovars to seek a living outside the country): the unemployment rate stood at 31% in 2012, according to Kosov's statistical services, and youth unemployment was slightly higher than 55%. The World Bank estimates that real unemployment is at about 40%, and it further says that about one third of Kosovars are living below the poverty line. Kosovar economy is growing by 4.5% per year, according to the International Monetary Fund. This is twice the average for developed economies (2.1%) but less than the average of emerging economies and developing countries (5.3%).

Corruption is another problem. Opposition parties, and especially Vetëvendosje, are harshly criticising the PDK-led government for this. Vetëvendosje holds more leftist positions than PDK's or Democratic League of Kosovo's (LDK), the second strongest party in the Assembly. According to Transparency International, Kosovo ranked 111 in the 2013 index of most corrupt countries in the world, together with Ethiopia and Tanzania. It is virtually the same position it held in 2010. In Europe, only five countries ranked worse: Albania, Belarus, Ukraine, Russia, and Azerbaijan.

Vetëvendosje blames the government for being corrupt and for not placing development and justice among its top priorities. Furthermore, the party is opposed to a 2013 Kosovo-Serbia agreement by which Serb-majority northern Kosovo was given a certain degree of self-government. Vetëvendosje is also calling for repeal an article of the Kosovar Constitution which forbids the merger of Kosovo and Albania.

In the 2010 parliamentary election, PDK secured 34 seats. LDK won 27, and Vetëvendosje 14. Other parties secured the remaining 45 seats, of which 25 were held by Serbian and other minorities' parties.

This time, however, Vetëvendosje hopes to get a better result, especially after party's Vice President Shpend Ahmeti won Pristina's mayoral election last year.

Prime Minister of Serbia Alexandar Vucic is trying to convince Kosovo Serbs to cas their votes in Sunday's election. North Kosovo Serb representatives are boycotting the election campaign, since they disagree with several decisions made by the Electoral Commission, which they consider to be discriminatory against Serbs.

Rapprochement between Kosovo and Albania

Only five days before the election, the government of Kosovo continues to sign agreements with Albania, with the stated goal of bringing both states closer. Education ministries of Kosovo and Albania yesterday signed a deal to unify the curriculum systems. Prior to that, the two countries had also agreed to create a joint labor market. Progress has also been made in bringing the two countries closer in areas such as infrastructure and consular services.