Prishtina, 5 March, 2024
The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, in the framework of the program of the state manifestation marking the 26th anniversary of the Epic of the Liberation Army of Kosovo, held a solemn session today.
The complete speech of Prime Minister Kurti at the solemn session of the Assembly to mark the 26th anniversary of the Epic of the Liberation Army of Kosovo:
Honorable President of the Republic of Kosovo, Mrs. Vjosa Osmani Sadriu,
Honorable Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo, Mr. Glauk Konjufca,
Dear Mr. Rifat Jashari,
Dear Members of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers of the Government,
Honorable President Fatmir Sejdiu,
Excellency ambassadors, diplomats and international friends,
Dear families of martyrs, invalids and veterans of the liberation war,
Dear religious leaders, leaders and representatives of institutions,
Dear citizens of Kosovo,
Ladies and gentleman,
Here comes March again and we gather to remember the days of March 5, 6 and 7 of 1998, as the dates of the three days when the people of Kosovo made a great leap on their long road to freedom. Every year on March 5 or 6, like no other occasion and like no other figure, the Assembly of Kosovo meets in a special session to remember the battle, resistance and sacrifice of Adem Jashari and his family in Prekaz on 5, 6 and March 7, 1998. This is now a consolidated and continuous official institutional practice.
Many events of historical importance are followed by established traditions for their memory and honor, but only those that have real source content and explosive potential manage to turn into genuine national traditions between generations. In the case of the resistance of the Jasharaj of Prekazi, this test has been successful since 25 years ago, when on the first anniversary of this resistance, on March 6, 1999, the Artistic Troupe “Hamez Jashari” of the KLA, devised the first note of the epic of the Kosovo Liberation Army. Thus, the manifestation that started as early as March 1999, under the fire of the war, on the first anniversary of the fighting in Prekaz and where it got its name the Epic of the KLA, over the years has taken place within the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, until today when we are celebrating its 26th anniversary.
The epic of the KLA, namely the history of the armed struggle of Adem Jashari, the Jashari family of Prekaz and all those who walked with them and behind them on the path of liberation, sum up a great political, cultural and national heritage, from which brought the freedom of Kosovo and on which its own state was built.
Kosovo has been freed from occupying Serbia, precisely through the political legacy that produced the personality and figure of Adem Jashari, from this same legacy our state has been raised and is being built and strengthened. I am talking about the legacy of the culture of armed resistance and pure political activism, especially from the League of Prizren onwards, which has characterized Albanians and especially Kosovo. Because indeed the resistance of the Jasharaj of Prekaz is unique in itself, but it is not without references in the history of the Albanians, as it is not untraceable even today.
The resistance of Adem Jashari and the KLA is a natural product of the same culture of uprising and volunteer fighters who fought for the protection of Albanian lands under the organization of the Albanian League of Prizren. It is resistance of the same culture that brought about the organization of the uprisings against the rule of the Ottoman Empire and the aggression of Serbia led by Hasan Prishtina in 1910, 1911 and 1912. It is the same culture that conceived and cultivated the movement of Azem Bejta and Shaban Polluzha in the first half of the 20th century. The same culture and tradition, that in the wildest years of the invasion of Kosovo by Serbia, when mass organizations were impossible, was reborn and appeared many times among individuals, such as the teacher Shaban Jashari himself, who turned his large family into a great national project for Albanians and for liberation.
At a time when it seemed impossible to break away from the clutches of Serbia’s criminal regime and when it was believed that the era of state formation in Europe had ended, the persistence of Adem Jashari and his fellow fighters to liberate Kosovo created the conditions for the liberation of Kosovo and the declaration of its independence afterwards. Today in the Republic of Kosovo, the freedom for which Adem Jashari had fought until his death has become the basic paradigm of life and laws of a modern society.
Last year we marked the 25th anniversary of the KLA Epic, and this year we will mark the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Kosovo in June 1999, commemorating the battles of the Kosovo Liberation Army, the murders, massacres and ethnic cleansing carried out by Serbia led by a genocidal regime on the Albanians in Kosovo and with the help of the allies we liberated together 25 years ago. And in this history of liberation and restoration, Adem Jashari and all that his figure represents, has a very big share, which is actually the biggest share that a person can have in the history of the country and the nation of his. It is the story of a man who, within his time and his active being, combined his individual freedom with the freedom of his people, throughout his life, until death, until the heroic fall. Freedom was the condition of life and it became the condition of Adem Jashari’s death. Therefore, if history is the progress of the people’s awareness of freedom, then Adem Jashari is the proper name of the man with which we can refer to our freedom!
Glory and deep and endless gratitude to Adem Jashari, the Jashari family, the Kosovo Liberation Army, and all the nation’s martyrs!
Thank you!
Last modified: March 5, 2024