{"id":1302,"date":"2019-10-11T11:15:18","date_gmt":"2019-10-11T11:15:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/website.euronews.al\/en\/i-pakategorizuar\/2019\/10\/11\/albin-kurti-the-dissident-student-that-become-kosovo-s-prime-minister\/"},"modified":"2019-10-11T11:15:18","modified_gmt":"2019-10-11T11:15:18","slug":"albin-kurti-the-dissident-student-that-become-kosovo-s-prime-minister","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/euronews.al\/en\/albin-kurti-the-dissident-student-that-become-kosovo-s-prime-minister\/","title":{"rendered":"Albin Kurti’s journey from a rebel student to Kosovo’s next PM"},"content":{"rendered":"
The leader of Vet\u00ebvendosje (Self-Determination Party) Mr. Albin Kurti was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Kosovo, after snap Parliamentary Elections on Sunday thus, opening a new chapter in Kosovo\u2019s politics Nationally and Globally.<\/p>\n
In 2005, along with other fellow activists\u2014he co-founded the civic initiative and political party Vet\u00ebvendosje\/Self-Determination. Even though his Party did not get a chance to secure enough Parliamentary seats to form a Government\u2014Kurti remained confident that eventually, one day his Party would emerge as a beacon of hope for his Nation and fellow Albanians.<\/p>\n
He came to the public\u2019s attention as a young rebellious student (then a Civil Rights\u2019 Activist), best known for his unyielding principles, which showed signs that he was here to stay. His father is originally from an Albanian Family in a small Village near Ulcinj\u2014while his mother is from Pristina. His family moved to Pristina prior to his birth in 1975, where eventually he completed his Elementary and Secondary Education.<\/p>\n
In 1997, Kurti became Vice-President of the Independent Student Union at the University of Pristina\u2014organizing peaceful marches for the release of the University building occupied at the time by Serbian Police, under the command of the last Yugoslav President Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107 dubbed the \u201cBalkan Butcher.\u201d<\/p>\n
During this time, Kurti often met with Senior Officials from Washington DC, New York, Brussels, Copenhagen, and the European Parliament in Strasbourg\u2014with the possibility of bringing to the International Community\u2019s attention the requests of the Albanian students to resume classes at the University. Kurti was one of the leaders of the historic student protests of October 1st<\/sup>, 1997 which was brutally crushed by the Serbian Police.<\/p>\n
In 1998, when the Kosovo War started\u2014he worked as secretary to the Office of the General Representative of the Kosovo Liberation Army (U\u00c7K) which was run by Mr. Adem Dema\u00e7i.<\/p>\n
Dema\u00e7i is a prominent activist, known for his peaceful struggles against the Yugoslav Regime and for serving over 25 years behind bars in Serbia for defending the Albanian Nationalist cause. Fearless in the face of the brutal Serbian Regime, he stayed in Pristina during the 78 days of the NATO sponsored Kosovo Air Campaign which was launched in March 1999.<\/p>\n
After a month, he was arrested by the Serbian Police in Pristina and kept in a prison for three days. He was then transferred to a prison in Lipljan, a small town in the City of Pristina\u2014where he was kept and tortured for over two months.<\/p>\n
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Following the surrender of Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107 and the withdrawal of Serbian Forces from Kosovo, Albin Kurti together with other detainees were transferred to Serbian Prisons respectively. His family had no information on his whereabouts until July, when a representative from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) went to his family and notified them, that their son was still alive but was being held in a prison of Po\u017earevac a City in Eastern Serbia.<\/p>\n
In March 2000, the Nis Court in Serbia sentenced Kurti to 15 years in prison for \u201cnot recognizing Yugoslavia\u2019s territorial integrity and attempting to carry out hostile action of a terrorist nature.\u201d During the one-week session, Kurti among others said, that he did not recognize the Court nor Serbia and to a less extent even Yugoslavia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Court serves the Fascist Regime of Slobodan Milo\u0161evi\u0107 only and has nothing in common with neither truth nor justice. It does not matter to me whether I\u2019m charged with 10, 20, 30, or even 40 years of sentencing. In principal, I will not respond to this Court\u2019s decision\u2014I am proven innocent only in the Court System of my peoples\u201d vowed Kurti at the time.<\/p>\n
On December 2001, after the downfall of Milo\u0161evi\u0107 and in light of International pressure, Kurti was released from prison by the new Serbian Administration of the time.<\/p>\n
In 2003, Albin Kurti graduated from the Faculty of Electro-Technical\u00a0Engineering at the University of Pristina.<\/p>\n
Starting off as an activist for the Kosova Action Network (KAN), he quickly climbed the ranks to become the Leader of \u201cVet\u00ebvendosje\u201d we know today. \u00a0The term and namesake of Kurti\u2019s Party, was coined after a protest at the walls of the UN Kosovo Trust Building (UNMIK) where he and other fellow activists wrote in the buildings\u2019 walls the slogan \u201cNo negotiations, only self-determination!\u201d<\/p>\n
As the only fair and peaceful resolution for settling the Kosovo Independence question, the \u201cSelf-Determination Movement\u201d demands a Nationwide Referendum in Kosovo. The Movement reasons that only through a referendum can citizens authentically exercise their right of self-determination\u2014when this happens a true democratic solution may be achieved.<\/p>\n
Instead of negotiations, which can potentially compromise freedom\u2014the Movement wants the citizens to decide for themselves: \u201cHow they wish to be governed and by whom they wish to be governed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Succeeded by Visar Ymeri after 10 years as the incumbent leader of the Party, Mr. Kurti was chosen as the Party Leader in 2018 once again. In 2017, he was the most voted candidate on a National scale. He has served three consecutive MP mandates in the Kosovo Parliament.<\/p>\n
In 2019, Kurti is the father of a girl and husband to a Norwegian wife. Apart from his native language, he is also fluent in English and Serbo-Croatian.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs the Prime Minister of Kosovo, I will not remove the Kosovo Flag from my office. I was outraged when the Flag of Kosovo could not be chosen through a referendum, as well as, when neither the red and black colors nor the double headed eagle were possible options. Our strongest point is that, those who have waved the flag until now and have stolen our futures are heading home\u201d said Kurti, after learning the preliminary results, which saw his Party declared the election winners.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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