Prishtina, 16 February 2026
Honourable Ms Saranda Bogujevci, Minister of Culture and Tourism,
Honourable Ms Justina Pula Shiroka, Chair of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo,
Honourable Ms Blerina Rogova Gaxha, Director of the National Library of Kosovo,
Honourable Professor Dr Arben Hajrullahu, Rector of the University of Prishtina, “Hasan Prishtina”,
Honourable Mr Bardh Rugova, Chair of the Steering Council of the National Library,
Honourable Ambassadors of France and Montenegro, Olivier Guerot and Bernard Cobaj,
Honourable representatives of the embassies of friendly countries, Hungary and Croatia,
Honourable ladies and gentlemen, representatives and leaders of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, professors and students,
On this 18th anniversary of Independence of the Republic of Kosovo, we are gathering in an institution that symbolises knowledge across all fields and the resilience of our national identity. This day is a remembrance of a political act, a crowning of a historic effort for freedom, dignity and statehood.
The road to 17 February 2008 was as long as it was arduous. It was built on sacrifice, on steadfastness, and on faith in our right to live in freedom. In this journey, the protection of the written word in the Albanian language was a silent, yet profoundly powerful act of resistance. When attempts were made to fade our history, it was preserved in documents. When the Albanian word was sought to be silenced, it was safeguarded in books. And when our institutions were struck, memory was maintained.
From October 1990 to June 1999, this hearth of knowledge faced violent measures, the purging of collections, one-sided acquisition policies, and the exclusion of Albanian-language books from its holdings. Many materials were confiscated, disappeared, or were transferred out of the country. At the same time, across Kosovo, 175 libraries with more than one and a half million copies were destroyed and burned, an attempt to strike at collective memory and our cultural identity.
And yet, the Albanian word survived. It found shelter on shelves, in archives and in the conscience of those who believed that freedom begins with safeguarding memory and truth.
In decades that were not easy for our country and our people, the National Library has played an extraordinary role in protecting, systematising and promoting local publications, in supporting authors, and in creating the conditions for the book to remain the cornerstone of cultural and civic formation. Therefore, the National Library of Kosovo is an institution of culture and society, testimony that our resistance did not take place only on the battlefield, but also in the protection of the book, knowledge and historical truth.
In recent years, the National Library of Kosovo has undertaken an important transformation, weaving its rich heritage together with the standards of the digital age. With the support of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo and the professional dedication of its staff, the digitisation process has become the backbone of institutional modernisation. With a capacity of around 15 thousand pages per day, capacities are being enhanced and the course set towards contemporary European practices.
Likewise, through the “Koha” platform, Kosovo’s library network has been consolidated by linking 48 libraries into a shared cataloguing and search system, which strengthens public inter-institutional cooperation and makes books and knowledge more accessible to citizens across the country.
This is the Kosovo we are building: a state that honours history, safeguards heritage, and invests in knowledge as a guarantee of the future.
On behalf of the Republic of Kosovo, I express my gratitude to all those who contribute to preserving our collective memory. Because a state that preserves its own memory builds its own future with certainty.
Happy Independence Day! Glory to those who fell for freedom!
Long live the Republic of Kosovo, independent, democratic and sovereign!
Thank you for your attention and participation!
