On the 19th anniversary of the death of Kosovo’s first president, Ibrahim Rugova, the current president, Vjosa Osmani, along with foreign diplomats in Kosovo, paid homage and respects at Rugova’s grave in the Velania neighborhood of Pristina.
Among the participants in this ceremony were the U.S. Embassy Chargé d’Affaires, Anu Prattipati; the European Union Ambassador to Kosovo, Aivo Orav; the head of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), Giovanni Pietro Barbano; and other foreign ambassadors.
The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, referred to Rugova as “the founding father of our state,” acknowledging his “extraordinary contribution to laying the strong foundations of our state.”
“President Rugova not only united all the citizens of Kosovo around the cause of freedom, independence, and democracy, but he also became Kosovo’s voice to the world, building important alliances that were crucial during those difficult times,” said Osmani.
She praised Rugova’s vision, stating that it now serves as a guide and example not only for Kosovo’s state leaders but for leaders worldwide.
Ibrahim Rugova served as Kosovo’s first president and was the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK). He is known for his role in the peaceful movement for Kosovo’s independence from Serbia during the 1990s.
Under Rugova’s leadership, the LDK, in collaboration with other Albanian political forces in Kosovo, declared Kosovo a Republic on July 2, 1990, and adopted its Constitution on September 7 of the same year.
In pre-war Kosovo, Rugova was elected President of the Republic of Kosovo in internationally unrecognized presidential elections held on May 24, 1992, and March 22, 1998. Later, Rugova won two internationally recognized general elections in post-war Kosovo.
On August 27, 2005, Rugova traveled to the military hospital at the U.S. base in Landstuhl, Germany, where he remained until September 3 for medical treatment. Two days later, on September 5, 2005, the President of Kosovo announced that he was suffering from lung cancer.
