Do we like them?

Do we like Albin Kurti?

Our score: 7 out of 10. He pushed civil unions at real political cost and has no harmful words on record, but there's a tear gas conviction and a row with Washington.

Albin Kurti leads the left-leaning Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) party and is back as Kosovo's prime minister after parliament re-elected him in September 2026. That's the headline on The Star's report. He's one of the most polarising figures in Balkan politics, and a lot of the heat around him comes from opponents who have spent years trying to block him.

The messiest chapter is the tear gas. In 2016 Vetevendosje MPs, Kurti among them, set off tear gas and used whistles, water and eggs in the chamber to filibuster votes on a Montenegro border deal and an association of Serb-majority municipalities. In January 2018 the Basic Court of Prishtina found him and three colleagues guilty, handing down conditional sentences with two years' probation. They boycotted the hearing and called the trial political.

On LGBTQ+ rights, his record is a good one. In March 2022 his government's civil code would have let same-sex couples form civil partnerships. Kurti urged MPs to back it, saying “rights belong to us, they belong to everyone.” It failed, with only 28 of 120 MPs in favour, and some Vetevendosje MPs voted against, so it was a loss for him rather than a win he can claim.

The other big stoush is with Washington. In September 2025 the US embassy put a planned Strategic Dialogue on indefinite hold, citing unspecified recent actions and statements by the caretaker prime minister. His government's spokesperson defended its actions as serving stability, and the opposition called it a low point for the alliance. Where you land depends on whether you read it as a hardball leader or a reckless one.

On the harm test we found nothing hateful from Kurti: no attacks on LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the climate. We also couldn't open the press freedom and minority-policy criticism aimed at his government, so we can't weigh it here. That's a gap, not a clean bill of health, and a reader who cares about those issues should look further.

So where does that leave him? He has stood up for same-sex couples when it wasn't popular, and he has gone to the wire for his party's principles, even when that meant a criminal conviction. The tear gas and the fight with a key ally keep him from a top mark. For a politician in a tough corner of Europe, he's a solid lean yes.