This Sunday, February 9, 2025, the citizens of Kosovo have headed to the polls to elect the government and the prime minister who will lead the country for the next four years. But who are the four candidates for the position of Prime Minister of Kosovo?

Albin Kurti – LVV Candidate Fighting for Another Term as Prime Minister

Albin Kurti has already served twice as Prime Minister, with his first term being the shortest in Kosovo’s history and his second the longest. He was born on March 24, 1975, in Pristina.

Kurti joined the leadership of the Independent Student Union of the University of Pristina in August 1997, organizing peaceful, non-violent protests for the liberation of university buildings occupied by Serbian regime authorities.

When the war in Kosovo began in August 1998, Kurti started working as the Secretary of the Office of the Political Representative of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), Adem Demaçi.

He was arrested by Serbian police on April 27, 1999. After Serbian forces withdrew from Kosovo on June 10, 1999, Kurti and over 2,000 other Albanians were transferred to Serbian prisons. Due to international pressure, he was released on December 7, 2001.

On April 23, 2003, Kurti graduated from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering at the University of Pristina, specializing in Computerized Telecommunications.

In June 2005, Kurti, along with other activists, founded the Vetëvendosje (Self-Determination) Movement.

He served as the leader of Vetëvendosje until March 2015, and in January 2018, he was re-elected as party leader.

Between 2005 and 2017, Kurti spent about a year and a half in detention due to opposition activism.

He served as a Member of Parliament for Vetëvendosje in the Kosovo Assembly for three consecutive terms and chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee from 2011 to 2014.

In the 2017, 2019, and 2021 elections, Kurti was his party’s candidate for prime minister.

In the elections held on February 14, 2021, the Vetëvendosje list won 50.28% of the popular vote, marking the best result ever achieved by a political party in Kosovo since the war ended.

He is fluent in Albanian, English, and Serbo-Croatian. He is married and has a daughter, Lea.

Bedri Hamza – PDK Candidate for Prime Minister

Bedri Hamza was born on November 8, 1963, in Upper Klinë.

He graduated from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Pristina in 1987, holds a Master’s degree in Economics, and is a PhD candidate at the University of Tirana.

Hamza has held various government positions, including:

• Deputy Minister of Economy and Finance(2008-2011)

• Minister of Finance(2011-2013)

• Governor of the Central Bank of Kosovo(2013-2017)

• Minister of Finance(2017-2020)

• Member of the Kosovo Parliament(2020)

• Head of the Parliamentary Group and Chairman of the Committee for Oversight of Public Finances

• Vice President of the Assembly of Kosovo(February 2021 – October 2021)

After winning the mayoral election in October 2021, he resigned from his parliamentary mandate and assumed office as Mayor of Mitrovica on November 26, 2021.

Lumir Abdixhiku – LDK Leader Facing His First General Election

Lumir Abdixhiku was born on April 22, 1983, in Pristina.

He completed his secondary education at Xhevdet Doda High School in Pristina and graduated in 2004 from the Faculty of Economics at the University of Pristina.

From 2005 to 2006, he studied in the United Kingdom, earning a Master’s degree from Staffordshire University.

In 2009, he received a scholarship from Staffordshire University for PhD studies, and in 2013, he earned a Doctorate in Economics.

Abdixhiku joined the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) in 2017 and was one of the most voted MPs in that year’s elections.

In 2019, he was elected as a member of LDK’s leadership, and in 2020, he served as Minister of Infrastructure and Environment.

On March 14, 2021, he was elected leader of LDK, and on November 19, 2023, he was re-elected.

This is his first term as Mayor of Mitrovica.

He is fluent in English and Serbo-Croatian. He lives in Mitrovica, is married, and has three children.

Ramush Haradinaj – AAK Candidate for Prime Minister

Ramush Haradinaj was born on July 3, 1968, in the village of Gllogjan, near Deçan.

He has served twice as Prime Minister of Kosovo.

After completing high school in 1987, he served in the Yugoslav People’s Army, where he was later promoted to platoon commander.

Haradinaj lived abroad for several years, mainly in Switzerland, where he learned French and English.

During the Kosovo war, he was a commander in the Dukagjin Operational Zone of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

After the war, Haradinaj studied Law at the University of Pristina and earned a Master’s degree in Business from the American University of Kosovo.

Following the transformation of the KLA into the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC), he was appointed Deputy Commander. In April 2000, he left military life and founded the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), where he remains the party leader.

After the 2004 elections, AAK entered a coalition with LDK, and Haradinaj became Prime Minister of Kosovo.

However, after 100 days in office, he resigned due to an indictment from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He was later acquitted of all charges.

On September 9, 2017, he was elected Prime Minister again, but after 22 months in office, he resigned when summoned as a witness by the Hague Tribunal. He stated that he did not want to appear in court wearing Kosovo’s official prime ministerial suit.

He is remembered for making strong decisions against Serbia, including imposing a 100% tariff on Serbian and Bosnian goods, despite heavy pressure from the EU and the US.

Even in his resignation speech, Haradinaj expressed his strong stance, stating:

“My country is Kosovo, inviolable in its multi-ethnicity, multilingualism, territory, and borders.”

He is married to Anita Haradinaj and has three children.