Week 3: Elections in Kosovo

Hello from week three, over here near the Baltic Sea!

This week, most of my focus turned toward Kosovo’s recent parliamentary election, held back in February 2025. What makes this election particularly noteworthy is that it came at the end of the first full four-year term served by any government in Kosovo’s history since independence in 2008. Every other elected government until now either collapsed due to a no-confidence vote or was overturned by a court decision. So, in many ways, this latest election felt like a milestone — a sign of something beginning to settle into place.

There’s something genuinely encouraging about that. From a legal perspective, it seems that the rules were followed, the procedures were respected, and the results were accepted. That might not sound groundbreaking, but for a young democracy, it matters. Rule of law doesn’t guarantee a perfect election, but it’s the foundation – and it held!

But even with that progress, the work isn’t done. Misinformation and disinformation still played a major role, and public trust remains fragile. The law can be followed to the letter, but that alone isn’t enough to create democratic confidence. Elections are more than ballots and counting procedures — they’re about legitimacy. And legitimacy is built on more than the assurances of a legal system. It’s built on perception, participation, and a shared belief that the system works. That shared 'buy-in' is impossible to legislate, and it's hard enough to spontaneously occur.

My role in all this has been to dig through the legal side of things — court cases, Kosovar election codes, complaints from observation groups, and appeals by interested parties. But sometimes the source of the law stretches further back: EU treaties and groups such as the Venice Commission, OSCE commitments, constitutional interpretations from several governments ago that still shape today’s decisions.

Outside of work, I’m continuing to find my footing here in Stockholm. The city, even at the height of summer and with tourists crossing the islands on the weekends, is quiet. At least, quieter than any city I've ever visited would be at this time of year. Even the busiest areas carry a kind of calm, whether in Hägersten, Gamla stan, or Södermolm. Waves and wind are louder than car horns on the bridges and highways, almost like there's a conscious urban attempt to just be a little less "in the way." There’s space here to think, to work, and to process — all of which I’ve needed while adapting to Swedish life and a sun that never seems to set.

Next week, I’ll be shifting my attention to a few of the other projects here at IDEA, and I'm looking forward to sharing more about those with you all then (I'll be working with some of my old colleagues at IDEA on an inter-organizational project, which I'm incredibly excited for). But for now, it’s back to Kosovo’s cases, urban exploration in Stockholm, and the steady work of understanding how democracy holds — and where it still needs shoring up.

Until next week,

Hank