Kosovo Court Blocks Presidential Decree to Dissolve Parliament

In a high-stakes constitutional test, Kosovo’s top court halted President Vjosa Osmani’s bid to dissolve parliament, effectively stalling a volatile dispute between the presidency and government.

Kosovo’s Constitutional Court on March 9 temporarily suspended a presidential decree dissolving the country’s parliament, halting a rapidly escalating political crisis and placing the dispute at the centre of a constitutional test over the limits of presidential power in the young Balkan republic.

The court’s interim ruling¹ freezes the implementation of President Vjosa Osmani’s March 6 decree² that sought to dissolve the 120 seat Assembly of Kosovo and send the country toward early parliamentary elections. Until the court reaches a final decision on the constitutionality of that move, neither the presidency nor the parliament may take further action connected to the decree.

The judges said the temporary measure was necessary to prevent what they described as “irreparable damage” to the constitutional order and to the functioning of key democratic institutions. The suspension will remain in force until at least March 31 while the court reviews the case in detail.

For three weeks, Kosovo no…