Opinion
The Presevo Valley did the math: together two, divided one
The joint list of eight Albanian parties doubled their representation in Belgrade. Now it has to show that unity holds after the count, too.
By ANN Newsroom · Newsroom
October 25, 2026, 19:00 · Updated 18:40 · 2 min read
While Serbia voted with record turnout and Aleksandar Vucic conceded defeat after 12 years in power, a smaller story with a clear lesson was written in Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja. Eight Albanian parties ran on a single list, the “Albanian Coalition,” number 17, and according to preliminary results won 27,230 votes, which with the coefficient for minorities count as 36,761: enough for two seats, with a chance at a third.
The arithmetic is not new. In 2020, when they ran together, Albanians won three seats; after splitting in later elections, their representation fell to one deputy. No difference in platform and no personal rivalry justified that loss for a community that, in Albin Kurti's words, needs to answer discrimination and exclusion with a determined democratic response.
The credit belongs first of all to the voters, who turned out in large numbers after a slow morning, and to the parties that agreed to share a list. Pristina's mediation also deserves credit, and calls to vote came from Tirana as well. But this is exactly where care is needed: the coalition must remain the voice of the Valley, not an extension of other capitals' agendas, however well-meaning.
The real risk begins now. Electoral coalitions often fall apart when responsibilities have to be shared. This coalition's agreement has a seven-point plan on representation in institutions, the economic recovery of the Valley and the official use of the Albanian language and symbols. These are promises that can be measured. And the new Parliament, with the majority expected to come from the student list, will be a new interlocutor that should be tested with concrete demands, not only with principles.
Our proposal: the coalition's deputies should act as a single parliamentary group, publish within 100 days a work program for each of the seven points, and report to voters in Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja every six months on what has been achieved. The lesson applies beyond the Valley as well: wherever Albanians are a minority, division costs seats. That math has already been done twice.
