Prishtina, 14 June 2024
The Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, participated in the promotion of the book “The Kosovo War 1997-1999: A Selected Bibliography” by authors Durim Abdullahu and Davjol Ndoja, held at the National Library of Kosovo.
In his speech, the Prime Minister stated that since the time of the war in Kosovo until today, many books have been written about the Kosovo war, but this is the first book written about the books on the Kosovo war.
In this book, a total of 7,700 books about the Kosovo war have been documented. And this large number, expressed Prime Minister Kurti makes us reflect even more since only 600 books out of all these books were written by Albanian authors, which means that the rest, over 7,000 books were written by international authors.
Out of a total of 7,700 books on the Kosovo war, some have even been translated into 28 different languages.
Authors, Abdullahu and Ndoja, have identified and registered them by extracting them from 45 mainly national libraries, from 43 different states, all over the globe.
Prime Minister congratulated the two authors on this undertaking finalized with this extraordinary book, and said he strongly believes that, as in this case, when a researcher from Pristina and a researcher from Tirana join forces, the result is such great and useful works, for society and the state, for our nation and for the future.
At this book promotion event, present were also the Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Arberie Nagavci; Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Justice, Mr. Vigan Qorrolli; Members of the Assembly of the Republic, Fejza, Hyseni, and Rrustemi; professors and students.
Prime Minister Kurti’s full speech:
Honorable Ms. Arberie Nagavci, Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation,
Honorable Ms. Bukurije Haliti, Acting Director of the National Library,
Honored Members of the Assembly of the Republic, Fejza, Hyseni, and Rrustemi,
Honorable Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Justice, Mr. Vigan Qorrolli,
Honored professors and students,
Honorable General Naim Haziri,
Honorable participants,
Ladies and gentleman,
The day before yesterday, we marked the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Kosovo, and today, continuing with the commemorations of the liberation days, we have gathered to promote the study book “The Kosovo War 1997-1999: A Selected Bibliography,” written by researchers Durim Abdullahu and Davjola Ndoja. Since the time of the war in Kosovo until today, many books have been written about the Kosovo war, but this is the first book written about the books on the Kosovo war.
Around two months ago, when Durim told me that he, along with his colleague Ndoja, had compiled and classified in a book all the books written during this quarter-century about the Kosovo war around the world, the first thing that amazed me was the very large number of these books. Because the total number was not only astonishing but almost unbelievable, as I imagine it will be for you as well. Rounded to a number, this book documents a total of 7,700 books about the Kosovo war. So, up to these days, marking 25 years since the end of the Kosovo war, 7,700 books have been written about the last war in our country. And this large figure makes us reflect even more because as the authors Abdullahu and Ndoja have explained in their book, only 600 books out of all these books, or less than 8% are written by Albanian authors, which means that the rest, over 7,000 books out of 7,700, are written by international authors; out of all these books not even 1/12 or every 12th book is by Albanian authors. More than 11 out of 12 are by foreign authors, and this fact was unbelievable to me, perhaps also because before this was unimaginable.
These 7,700 books about the Kosovo war have been written and some even translated into a total of 28 different languages, while the authors, Abdullahu and Ndoja, have identified and registered them by extracting them from 45 mainly national libraries, from 43 different countries around the globe. These data alone, although it’s just a statistic, suffice to understand the extensive international dimension of interest in the Kosovo war. On the other hand, this shows the great amount of research and study that has been done for this book of books on the recent war in our country. This work certainly corresponds to the name Durim (which means “patience”) of the author Abdullahu, while I am also curious about the meaning of the name Davjola of the author Ndoja!
Congratulations to both authors for this undertaking finalized with this extraordinary book, an unprecedented book for us, and I strongly believe that, as in this case, when a researcher from Pristina and a researcher from Tirana join forces, the natural result is such great and useful works, for society and the state, for the nation and the future.
I think now we should start thinking about how to buy these books, written in 43 countries around the world, and bring them here to Kosovo, where the war they write about took place, to which Abdullahu and Ndoja have dedicated their book. Because for us as the people of Kosovo and for the institutions of the Republic, it is extremely important to have and know every book and collect every voice about the war in Kosovo.
And to create an image of this large corpus of books about the war in our country, I believe the exhibition we will see later will serve us well, where Durim has exhibited half of his collection of books about the Kosovo war. I congratulate the authors once again for the book and the exhibition, with feelings full of respect for the history and heritage of the Kosovo war.
Last modified: June 25, 2024