PRISTINA – Kosovo is holding an early parliamentary election to form a new government amid the coronavirus pandemic, an economic downturn and stalled negotiations with wartime foe Serbia.
Some 1.8 million eligible voters on Sunday started to cast their ballots in 2,400 polling stations. They're electing 120 lawmakers among more than 1,000 candidates from 28 political groupings.
Some 100,000 Kosovars in diaspora are also eligible to vote by post. Those infected by the coronavirus will be able to vote through mobile polling teams.
Reducing unemployment and fighting organized crime and corruption remain the biggest challenges. Negotiations on normalizing ties with Serbia, which have stalled again last year after talks brokered by the U.S.