The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) announced its move a day after the country’s acting president, Jakup Krasniqi, called early elections for Feb. 13.

The LDK’s relations with Prime Minister Hashim Thaci’s Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), had worsened since LDK leader Fatmir Sejdiu resigned as national president last month following a court ruling he could not simultaneously be a party leader and the head of state.

“From Monday, October 18, 2010, LDK will withdraw from the ruling coalition and the government of the Republic of Kosovo,” Sejdiu said.

The political stalemate will delay European Union-sponsored talks with Serbia, which refuses to recognize the independence of its former province. It will also delay the privatization of key state-owned companies.

Serbia lost control of Kosovo in 1999 after NATO carried out a bombing campaign to halt Belgrade’s killing of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo in a two-year counter-insurgency war.

Kosovo Albanians, who make up 90 percent of the population, declared independence in 2008 in a move that has been recognized by 70 countries, including most EU members and the United States.