The meeting focused on strengthening institutional cooperation and supporting joint initiatives to advance scientific research, promote knowledge and deepen academic ties between Kosovo and Albania, the President’s Office said in a statement.

Shiroka Pula stressed the importance of closer institutional links and continued support for initiatives that foster scientific development and cross-border academic cooperation, the statement added.

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Kamberi said Kosovo continued to be used for political purposes in Serbia, adding that winning elections without the support of nationalist voters was difficult.

Speaking to the media, he said Serbia’s new government should change its political course and accept the reality of Kosovo’s independence.

“In Serbia, you cannot win elections without the support of a section of the nationalist electorate. Kosovo is one of the issues most frequently used for political purposes. We will see, once the new government is formed, whether they maintain the same line or adopt a different approach,” Kamberi said.

He said representatives of the Student List, including academics and professors, should recognise that Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic’s longstanding claims regarding Kosovo were unrealistic.

“They should therefore change their political course and face a reality that has prevailed in Kosovo for 27 years. Kosovo is an independent state, and relations with Kosovo should be built on that reality,” Kamberi said.

His comments come as Serbia prepares to form a new government following parliamentary elections held on Oct. 25.

Serbia continues to refuse to recognise Kosovo’s independence, declared on Feb. 17, 2008. Relations between the two countries remain part of a dialogue process facilitated by the European Union.

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In a Facebook post, Kamberi said a 35% increase in the electoral coefficients applied to national minorities brought the adjusted vote total to 36,761.

Kamberi, who heads the Albanian Coalition list, thanked voters in Presheva, Bujanovac and Medvegje for their support, political parties for joining forces and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti for his involvement.

“This is the result of political unity, public trust and a shared commitment to dignified representation. Together in elections, together in representation, together for our rights,” Kamberi said.

The Albanian Coalition of the Presheva Valley is projected to win two seats in Serbia’s parliament, according to estimates by the Center for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) and Ipsos, based on 56% of the sample processed.

The joint list of political parties representing ethnic Albanians in the Presheva Valley secured 0.8% of the vote, with the two projected seats going to Kamberi of the Party for Democratic Action (PVD) and Visar Mehmeti of the Alternative for Change (APN).

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After years of divisions and rivalries, the parties united with the mediation of Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti. They aim to win three seats in the Serbian parliament, where the Albanian community had only one MP in the previous legislature.

Ahead of the elections, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Kosovo President Justina Shiroka Pula urged Albanians from these municipalities who live in Kosovo and are eligible to vote to return to their hometowns to cast their ballots.

In a message published on 24 October, Kurti explicitly called for support for the “Albanian Coalition”, which appears as number 17 on the ballot.

“Discrimination, exclusion and oppression require a firm democratic response. Through solidarity. Through perseverance. Through participation,” he said.

Kurti added that Albanians in Preševo, Bujanovac and Medveđa have the right to build their lives in their homeland, with equal opportunities.

In her appeal on 24 October, Shiroka Pula stressed the importance of participation in strengthening the political representation of Albanians.

“Unity is the key to stronger political representation. That is why we must be united on the list and united at the ballot box, to secure more Albanian MPs in the Serbian parliament,” she said.

According to the 2022 census, more than 60,000 Albanians live in Serbia.

From division to a joint electoral list

In a statement to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), published on 1 October, Visar Memeti, leader of the Alternative for Change party, said that the agreement to unite the parties had been reached at the second meeting, thanks to Kurti’s mediation.

“In 2020, we had three MPs, but then we split and the result was one MP. Our aim now is to win three MPs again; this would significantly strengthen our representation in the Serbian Parliament,” Memeti said.

Shaip Kamberi, leader of the Party for Democratic Action and the sole representative of the Albanian community in the previous composition of the Serbian Parliament, told RFE/RL that the parties had held opposing positions on participation in the elections, their demands and joint actions.

According to him, these differences were overcome through the mediation and advice of Kosovo’s prime minister.

“The parties that took part in the 2022/2023 elections independently, outside our list, which held the majority, saw that it was difficult to win a seat without uniting. Now, apparently, they have understood this, and we have reached this outcome,” Kamberi said.

Kamberi and Memeti said they had also agreed to act jointly after the elections. Memeti stated that the decision on whether to support the next government or remain in opposition would be taken after the vote.

An attempt to unite the Albanian parties had also been made in 2020, at the initiative of the Albanian government, but one of the parties did not join the list at the time.

Who is in the coalition and what are its aims?

The Albanian Coalition comprises the Party for Democratic Action, Alternative for Change, the Democratic Party, the Albanian Democratic Party, the Movement for Democratic Progress, the Movement for Reforms, the Alternative for the Valley and the Democratic Union of Albanians.

The parties aim to implement a seven-point plan previously agreed with the Serbian government. It includes Albanian representation in state institutions, the economic recovery of the municipalities in the Preševo Valley, and the official use of the Albanian language, script and national symbols.

Albanian representatives have for years complained of discrimination, including in employment, education and institutional representation. The Serbian authorities deny the allegations of discrimination.

Burhan Behluli, editor-in-chief of TV Spektri in Bujanoc, told RFE/RL that citizens had for years been calling on Albanian parties to unite in order to represent their interests at central government level.

“I believe that the mood on the ground and citizens’ growing distrust of the current politicians have prompted them to take a more realistic view of their position and accept the agreement,” he said in a statement published on 1 October.

Pristina’s role and expectations after the elections

The agreement between the Albanian parties gives Pristina a role that extends beyond their unification on a single electoral list.

According to Shaip Kamberi, Article 5 of the agreement provides for Kosovo’s prime minister to be involved in consultations on key strategic issues.

On 30 September, Kurti described the joint electoral list as a potentially important and historic step in the fight against what he called “discrimination and exclusion” and “ethnic administrative cleansing” in Serbia.

He also reiterated the demand that Albanians in Serbia should enjoy the same rights as Serbs in Kosovo, including reserved seats in parliament.

However, Belgzim Kamberi, from the Musine Kokalari Institute for Social Policy in Pristina, told RFE/RL that greater parliamentary representation was not enough in itself.

“The true value of this representation will be measured, above all, by its impact on economic development and the well-being of citizens in Preševo, Bujanoc and Medveđa, representation in institutions, the advancement of individual and collective rights, and the return of the problems facing this area to the political agenda,” he said.

According to him, Albanian MPs should prioritise tangible results in employment, education, the use of the Albanian language, the implementation of existing agreements and addressing the issue of the deactivation of residential addresses.

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Peter Due, the UN secretary-general’s special representative and head of the UN Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), is expected to present the secretary-general’s latest report on Kosovo, covering the period from March 16 to Sept. 15, 2026.

According to Security Council Report, the document assesses the overall security situation as stable, while noting continued difficulties in the functioning of institutions and limited progress in implementing agreements reached through the European Union-mediated dialogue.

Discussions are expected to cover political developments, including the formation of a government in September and the election of Justina Pula-Shiroka as president on Oct. 7, with 81 votes.

The situation in northern Kosovo is also expected to feature prominently. The report describes the area as calm but fragile, citing disagreements between central and local authorities.

It also addresses issues involving municipal powers, the demolition of buildings, evictions from properties and actions by Kosovo Police, placing these developments in the context of relations between institutions and communities.

Another key topic will be the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue and implementation of existing agreements, including the 2023 Ohrid Agreement.

No high-level meeting was held under the dialogue during the reporting period, the report says, although EU special representative Peter Sørensen continued contacts with both sides.

The Security Council may also discuss efforts to reintegrate Serb judges and prosecutors into Kosovo’s justice system and accountability for the armed attack in Banjska in September 2023.

The report also addresses people who went missing during the Kosovo war. As of Sept. 15, 2026, the fate of 1,579 people remained unresolved, according to the document.

Council members are also expected to express differing views on UNMIK’s future. The United States has previously called for the mission to be closed, while Britain has supported a strategic review of its role and responsibilities. Russia and China oppose reducing the mission.

Representatives of Kosovo, Serbia and the European Union are also expected to attend the meeting.

This is the Security Council’s second regular meeting on Kosovo in 2026.

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Speaking ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg on Oct. 12, Kos criticised changes to the legal framework while judicial proceedings are still under way.

“I want to be clear that amendments to the Law on the Specialist Chambers run counter to Kosovo’s fundamental obligations towards the EU. This is unacceptable,” Kos stated.

Changing the rules while court proceedings are ongoing runs counter to international rule-of-law standards, she added.

“My message is very simple. European enlargement is moving forward. If candidate countries take steps backwards, they are not on the right track and will not be able to become EU members,” she added.

Kos’s remarks came after Kosovo’s parliament approved amendments last week to the law governing the functioning of the Specialist Chambers in The Hague, commonly known as the Kosovo Specialist Court.

The amendments were proposed by the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) just five days after a Sept. 16 verdict in which the Specialist Chambers sentenced former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi and three other former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders – Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi – to a combined 81 years in prison for war crimes.

All four pleaded not guilty throughout the trial.

The amendments seek to narrow the jurisdiction of the Specialist Chambers by restricting the period covered by the court’s mandate and the categories of criminal offences it can try.

Among other provisions, they would cap prison sentences at 15 years, allow appeals to Kosovo’s Supreme Court and permit sentences to be served in Kosovo.

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“We call on Kosovo to abide by its international obligations to guarantee the judicial independence of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, as well as its commitment to ensuring accountability and delivering justice to victims and their families from all communities in Kosovo,” an EU spokesperson told Radio Free Europe.

The law was approved late on Tuesday, shortly before parliament elected Justina Shiroka Pula as Kosovo’s new president, a move welcomed by Brussels.

The EU said the Chambers’ current mandate and independence must be fully respected, stressing that the court delivers justice based on individual criminal responsibility.

Brussels also welcomed an end to the institutional deadlock that had gripped Kosovo since 2025, saying renewed stability should allow the country to advance on its European path.

The EU said Kosovo must also press ahead with reforms linked to its Growth and Reform Facility, implementation of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, regional cooperation and gradual integration into the EU Single Market.

The amendments, initiated by the opposition Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), were approved in second reading before parliament elected Shiroka Pula in the early hours of Oct. 7.

The Specialist Chambers are based in The Hague but form part of Kosovo’s judicial system. They were established under a 2014 exchange of letters between then-President Atifete Jahjaga and former EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and have received nearly 400 million euros in EU funding.

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Shiroka Pula begins a five-year term after receiving 81 votes in an extraordinary session of Kosovo’s parliament on Tuesday evening.

She was nominated by the parliamentary group of the ruling Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) movement, while the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) nominated Eliza Hoxha as her rival candidate.

At 73, Shiroka Pula is Kosovo’s third woman president, following Atifete Jahjaga and Vjosa Osmani.

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Kurti said that if the PDK pledged to secure at least half of the 22 votes in its parliamentary group for Bekim Sejdiu’s election as Kosovo’s new president that evening, he would secure 62 votes from his party and governing coalition partners to pass the proposed amendments.

Sejdiu was nominated under an agreement between Kurti’s Vetëvendosje Movement and the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), but withdrew last month after six LDK MPs opposed his candidacy.

Kurti said at a press conference that Sejdiu remains a candidate and that he needs half of the PDK’s votes to secure the presence of at least 80 MPs in the 120-seat Assembly, the required quorum for his election on the final day of the constitutional deadline to elect a new president.

He said he was now awaiting a response from the PDK, as the opposition party “no longer wants to meet with us”.

“Bedri Hamza has issued an ultimatum and refuses to meet,” Kurti said.

Earlier, PDK leader Bedri Hamza said he would not meet Kurti or anyone else until the proposed amendments limiting the Specialist Chambers’ powers were passed.

Kurti pledged to support the PDK’s proposed amendments to limit the Specialist Chambers’ powers “first thing Thursday morning”, arguing that Article 85 of the Kosovo Assembly’s Rules of Procedure must be respected, which requires at least 72 hours to pass between the principle approval of a bill and its second reading.

The amendments were approved in principle on Monday.

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The deadline set by the Constitutional Court requires the presidential election process to be completed by October 6.

The political deadlock has coincided with protests in Prishtina over proposed changes to legislation governing the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, with yesterday’s demonstrations turning tense and police using tear gas.

Protests continued into the evening, with demonstrators calling for the draft amendments to the law on the Specialist Chambers to be approved in a second reading. Parliament approved the bill in principle on Monday in an extraordinary session, with 91 votes in favour, none against and no abstentions.

Following the session, Vetëvendosje leader Albin Kurti met Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) leader Bedri Hamza, but the talks failed to produce an agreement on either the presidential election or the Specialist Chambers legislation.

Further protests have been announced for Tuesday by the Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans Organisation (OVL-UÇK), calling for the legislation to be approved in a second reading.

In a September 23 ruling, Kosovo’s Constitutional Court clarified that the 60-day deadline for electing a president began on August 8, when parliament was constituted, and expires on October 6.

Failure to elect a president within the deadline could trigger another political crisis and potentially lead to new parliamentary elections, depending on the subsequent constitutional process.

Kosovo has held three parliamentary elections in the past two years. The February 2025 election failed to produce a government, while a second election, held on December 28, 2025, was followed by an institutional deadlock over the election of a president and ultimately the dissolution of parliament in April. A third parliamentary election was held on June 7, 2026.

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