At a moment when most governments the world over are preoccupied with fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, Kosovo’s co-ruling Democratic League of Kosovo, LDK, has taken time out to join forces with the opposition in toppling the country’s coalition government after just 51 days in office.

Analysts say the alliance of LDK and Vetevendosje was always shaky, but fell for the same reason as the previous government – disagreement over a 100-per cent tariff on Serbian goods and, ultimately, the future of European Union-mediated talks with former master Serbia.

Ostensibly, the cause was Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s March 18 dismissal of Interior Minister Agim Veliu, a member of the LDK, amid infighting over how to combat the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

But the backstory is the divergence between the EU and the United States over how to broker a deal to settle relations between Belgrade and Pristina, with similar faultlines emerging in Kosovo itself.