Kosovo holds municipal elections with the governing party aiming for Pristina city hall

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo is holding municipal elections on Sunday, with the governing left-wing Self-Determination Movement, or Vetevendosje!, seeking to capture the capital’s city hall amid lingering political tensions and strained relations with Serbia.

About 2.1 million registered voters are choosing mayors and in 38 municipalities and around 1,000 local council members. Preliminary results are expected by midnight, though many municipalities are likely to head to runoffs in about a month, as in previous polls.

The most closely watched race is in the capital, Pristina, where former culture minister Hajrulla Çeku of Vetevendosje! is challenging incumbent Perparim Rama from the conservative Kosovo Democratic League.

Vetevendosje! aims to build on its showing in February's parliamentary election, when it won 48 seats in the 120-member legislature, still short of a governing majority.

Voting in the Serb-majority north draws particular attention, where Srpska Lista, the dominant Serb party seen as closely aligned with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, is expected to maintain control of most of its strongholds.

The European Union–facilitated dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia remains stalled. The two neighbors have remained at odds since Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a move Serbia still refuses to recognize.

The local vote comes just two days after Kosovo’s Parliament ended an eight-month political stalemate by completing the election of its full leadership, including a representative from the ethnic Serb minority.

On Saturday, acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti, Vetevendosje!’s leader, was tasked with forming a new Cabinet within 15 days — a challenge as other major parties have so far declined to enter coalition talks.

Kurti faces pressure to stabilize domestic politics, address economic challenges and revive EU-mediated normalization talks with Serbia.

Kosovo’s independence remains a flashpoint in the Balkans. About 11,400 people were killed, mostly ethnic Albanians, in the 1998–1999 war that ended after a NATO air campaign drove Serbian forces out. While most Western countries recognize Kosovo’s statehood, Serbia, supported by Russia and China, does not.

Semini reported from Tirana, Albania

Perparim Rama, former mayor of capital, from the Lidhja Demokratike e Kosoves, LDK (Democratic League of Kosovo), casts his ballot during the municipal elections in Pristina, Kosovo on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Uran Ismaili, candidate for the mayor from the Partia Demokratike e Kosoves, PDK (Democratic Party of Kosovo), casts his ballot for the municipal elections in Pristina, Kosovo on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025.(AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Hajrullah Ceku, candidate for the mayor from the VeteVendosje (SelfDetermination) political party casts his ballot on Sunday's municipal elections in Pristina, Kosovo on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025.(AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Voters cast their ballot for the municipal elections in Pristina, Kosovo on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

Voters cast their ballot for the municipal elections in Pristina, Kosovo on Sunday, Oct. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

People wait at the bus station decorated with political banners of the candidate for the mayor Uran Ismaili, PDK, (Democratic Party of Kosova) left, and the actual mayor Perparim Rama LDK, (Democratic League of Kosova) right, ahead of Sunday's municipal elections in capital Pristina, Saturday, Oct 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

People walk beneath a political banner of the candidate for the mayor Hajrullah Ceku of the VeteVendosje (SelfDetermination) ahead of Sunday's municipal elections in capital Pristina, Saturday, Oct 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

People wait at the bus station decorated with political banner of the candidate for the mayor Uran Ismaili, PDK, (Democratic Party of Kosova), ahead of Sunday's municipal elections in capital Pristina, Saturday, Oct 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

People wait at the bus station decorated with political banners of the candidate for the mayor Perparim Rama from LDK (Democratik League of Kosova), ahead of Sunday's municipal elections in capital Pristina, Saturday, Oct 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

View of the Bill Clinton's bulevard ahead of Sunday's municipal elections in capital Pristina, Saturday, Oct 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu)

BERLIN (AP) — The eight European countries targeted by U.S. President Donald Trump for a 10% tariff for opposing American control of Greenland blasted the move Sunday, warning that the American leader's threats “undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”

In an unusual and very strong joint statement coming from major U.S. allies, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Finland on Sunday said troops sent to Greenland for the Danish military training exercise “Arctic Endurance” pose “no threat to anyone.”

Trump's Saturday announcement sets up a potentially dangerous test of U.S. partnerships in Europe. The Republican president appeared to indicate that he was using the tariffs as leverage to force talks over the status of Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark that he regards as critical to U.S. national security.

“We stand in full solidarity with the Kingdom of Denmark and the people of Greenland," the group said. “Building on the process begun last week, we stand ready to engage in a dialogue based on the principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity that we stand firmly behind. Tariff threats undermine transatlantic relations and risk a dangerous downward spiral.”

There are immediate questions about how the White House could try to implement the tariffs because the EU is a single economic zone in terms of trading. It was unclear, too, how Trump could act under U.S. law, though he could cite emergency economic powers that are currently subject to a U.S. Supreme Court challenge.

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said China and Russia will benefit from the divisions between the U.S. and Europe. She added in a post on social media: “If Greenland’s security is at risk, we can address this inside NATO. Tariffs risk making Europe and the United States poorer and undermine our shared prosperity."

Trump's move was also panned domestically.

U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly, a former U.S. Navy pilot and Democrat who represents Arizona, posted that Trump’s threatened tariffs on U.S. allies would make Americans “pay more to try to get territory we don’t need.”

“Troops from European countries are arriving in Greenland to defend the territory from us. Let that sink in,” he wrote on social media. “The damage this President is doing to our reputation and our relationships is growing, making us less safe. If something doesn’t change we will be on our own with adversaries and enemies in every direction.”

Six of the countries targeted are part of the 27-member EU, which operates as a single economic zone in terms of trading. It was not immediately clear if Trump's tariffs would impact the entire bloc. EU envoys scheduled emergency talks for Sunday evening to determine a potential response.

The tariff announcement even drew blowback from Trump's populist allies in Europe.

Italy’s right-wing premier, Giorgia Meloni, considered one of Trump’s closest allies on the continent, said Sunday she had spoken to him about the tariffs, which she described as “a mistake.”

The deployment to Greenland of small numbers of troops by some European countries was misunderstood by Washington, Meloni told reporters. She said the deployment was not a move against the U.S. but aimed to provide security against “other actors” that she didn’t name.

French President Emmanuel Macron wrote on social media that “no intimidation or threats will influence us, whether in Ukraine, Greenland or anywhere else in the world when we are faced with such situations." He added that "tariff threats are unacceptable and have no place in this context.”

Jordan Bardella, president of Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party in France and also a European Parliament lawmaker, posted that the EU should suspend last year’s tariff deal with the U.S., describing Trump’s threats as “commercial blackmail.”

Trump also achieved the rare feat of uniting Britain’s main political parties — including the hard-right Reform UK party — all of whom criticized the tariff threat.

“We don’t always agree with the U.S. government and in this case we certainly don’t. These tariffs will hurt us,” Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, a longtime champion and ally of Trump, wrote on social media. He stopped short of criticizing Trump's designs on Greenland.

Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who leads the center-left Labour Party, said the tariffs announcement was “completely wrong” and his government would “be pursuing this directly with the U.S. administration.”

The foreign ministers of Denmark and Norway are also expected to address the crisis Sunday in Oslo during a news conference.

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Leicester reported from Paris and Cook from Brussels. Associated Press writers Jill Lawless in London, Barry Hatton in Lisbon, Portugal, Aamer Madhani in Washington and Josh Boak in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.

A crowd walks to the US consulate to protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A boy holds a crossed out map of Greenland topped by a hairpiece symbolizing U.S. President Donald Trump, during a protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

People protest against Trump's policy towards Greenland in front of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)