In Kosovo, Parliament has approved a new government led by Prime Minister Albin Kurti, ending a yearlong political deadlock in the Balkan country. Lawmakers backed Kurti’s Cabinet with 66 votes for and 49 against in the 120-member assembly. The vote was held yesterday, just hours after Parliament convened for the first time since a snap election in December.

 

Fifty-year-old Kurti secured a new mandate after his Self-Determination party won 57 seats in Parliament in December. The party formed an alliance with several ethnic minority groups.

 

A former Serbian province, Kosovo declared independence in 2008 following a 1998-99 war that ended after a US-led NATO intervention. Serbia does not recognize the split and tensions have simmered ever since.