PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo is heading for its third parliamentary election in over a year after lawmakers repeatedly failed to elect a new president, pushing the young Balkan nation into renewed political uncertainty.
Parliament, which is tasked with choosing the presidents of Kosovo, on Tuesday faced a deadline by midnight to choose a successor to President Vjosa Osmani, whose term expired earlier this month. When it failed to do so, the legislature was automatically dissolved.
The early election must be held within the next 45 days, but a date for the new vote was not immediately announced.
Political analyst Ilir Deda predicted that the next election is likely to be held in June. The vote, Deda added, will test “whether people are willing to hold politicians accountable.”
The small Balkan country of 2 million people has faced political turmoil since an election in February 2025 ended inconclusively, resulting in months of political deadlock.
A new government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti was formed after an early vote on Dec. 28 but another crisis then emerged over who should succeed former President Osmani.
To choose a president, Kosovo's 120-member assembly needs a quorum of at least 80 lawmakers. Opposition, however, boycotted the session because of a lack of agreement on a candidate, effectively blocking the vote.
The ongoing political uncertainty has already affected Kosovo's economy and undermined voters' faith in the system.
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 following a war in 1998-99. Belgrade still does not recognize the split and unresolved relations between the two rivals have been a source of concern in the volatile Balkans.
The European Union has told both Kosovo and Serbia that they must mend ties if they want to advance in their efforts to one day join the 27-nation bloc.
FILE - A man holds his ballot prior to voting in early parliamentary election in Kosovo's capital Pristina, on Dec. 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu, File)
LONDON (AP) — The European Union accused Meta on Wednesday of failing to stop underage users from accessing Facebook and Instagram, in violation of the bloc's tough digital rules that require social media sites to protect minors.
The EU's executive branch said Meta Platforms lacked effective measures to prevent children younger than 13 from signing up, and that it was not doing enough to identify and remove children after they had opened accounts.
Meta's own minimum age to open an account on Facebook or Instagram is 13.
The problem is not just that children are getting access. The European Commission said Meta is also inadequately assessing the risk of children younger than 13 being exposed to “age-inappropriate experiences” on the platforms.
Meta disagreed with the decision, saying that it has measures in place to detect and remove accounts for anyone younger than 13.
“Understanding age is an industry-wide challenge, which requires an industry-wide solution, and we will continue to engage constructively with the European Commission on this important issue,” the company said in a statement, adding it will have more to share next week about additional measures it plans to roll out soon.
Brussels is targeting the Meta with the Digital Services Act, a sweeping set of regulations that requires tech companies operating in the 27-nation bloc to do more to clean up online platforms and protect internet users.
Meta now has the chance to respond to the preliminary findings, before the commission issues its final decision. Violations can result in hefty fines worth up to 6% of a company's worldwide annual revenue.
Henna Virkkunen, an executive vice president at the European Commission, said the bloc's investigation launched in 2024 found that Instagram and Facebook “are doing very little” to prevent children from getting access despite their own terms and conditions indicating “their services are not intended for minors under 13."
“The DSA requires platforms to enforce their own rules: terms and conditions should not be mere written statements, but rather the basis for concrete action to protect users – including children,” she said in a statement.
FILE - A Meta logo is shown on a video screen at LlamaCon 2025, an AI developer conference, in Menlo Park, Calif., April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)
