Kosovo’s government collapsed Wednesday after it lost a confidence vote in parliament, a move expected to trigger a snap election after more than a year of political crisis in the tiny Balkan country.
The ruling coalition had long been strained by growing discord between its two main parties, President Hashim Thaci’s center-right PDK and the conservative LDK of Prime Minister Isa Mustafa.
Under the constitution fresh elections have to be held within 45 days, and the president is expected to call them by the end of the week.
Of those present, 78 deputies in the 120-member parliament backed the no confidence motion while 34 were against it, speaker Kadri Veseli said.
The main trigger for the vote was a border demarcation deal with neighboring Montenegro, the final condition for obtaining visa-free travel in the European Union.
Three opposition parties strongly oppose the move, alleging that the deal deprives Kosovo of several thousand hectares of land.