Pristina, February 17, 2024
As part of the activities marking the 16th anniversary of Independence, a state reception ceremony was held, organized by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, the President, Vjosa Osmani Sadriu, and the Speaker of the Parliament, Glauk Konjufca, where leaders and representatives of Kosovo’s state institutions, members of Parliament, ambassadors and international friends and many important personalities were invited and present.
Prime Minister Kurti’s full speech:
Your Excellency, Mrs. Vjosa Osmani Sadriu, President of the Republic of Kosovo,
Your Excellency, Mr. Bajram Begaj, President of the Republic of Albania and Mrs. Begaj,
Honorable Mr Speaker of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, Glauk Konjufca,
Honorable former president of the Republic of Kosovo, Mr. Fatmir Sejdiu,
Dear Members of Parliament, Government Deputy Prime Ministers and Ministers,
Dear leaders of political entities and representatives of institutions from North Macedonia, the Presheva Valley, Montenegro, Albania, and elsewhere,
Distinguished ambassadors, and international friends,
Dear leaders and representatives of Kosovo state institutions,
Honorable religious leaders,
Ladies and gentleman,
Sisters and brothers,
Welcome to this state reception organized by the President, the Speaker of the Assembly, and me as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, on the 16th anniversary of the declaration of our state’s independence. This is how we follow the tradition of celebrating the birthday of our democratic Republic, which this Saturday, 17th of February 2024, turned 16 years old.
On 17 February 2008, the deputies of the Kosovo Assembly, as representatives of the people, elected in free and democratic elections, declared Kosovo to be an independent, sovereign and democratic state with the votes and signatures of 109 people who signed the Declaration of Independence, the founding document of our state.
On that day, upon the cured parchment where the text of the Kosovo Declaration of Independence was handwritten, alongside 109 deputies, the three leaders of the newly declared independent state also signed: President Fatmir Sejdiu, Speaker Jakup Krasniqi and Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi, who also read it in Parliament.
Kosovo is the newest state in the old continent. The Republic of Kosovo is the newest country on the political map of Europe, but also one of the soundest developing democracies throughout our entire continent.
The Republic of Kosovo was initially called as a student and popular slogan in the demonstrations of 1981; it was politically declared with the Constitutional Declaration of 2 July 1990, before Kosovo was proclaimed a Republic on 7 September 1990, along with its Constitution in the Kaçanik assembly, as a Republic that served Kosovo for resistance against Serbia.
The last decade of the 20th century was a period of peaceful civil resistance directed and internationalized by President Ibrahim Rugova; decade of armed struggle of the Kosovo Liberation Army, inspired and led by Commander-in-Chief Adem Jashari; of thousands of political activists who spent thousands of years in prisons like Adem Demaçi; and of the student movement of the University of Prishtina, which mobilized the political will for active resistance. These are the years of the warriors and martyrs of the liberation war and these are the years of the victims and martyrs of freedom. So today, with tributes and honors, we remember all those who contributed to the independence of Kosovo, but who are no longer physically among us.
All these efforts and sacrifices for justice; this will and political activism for democracy; this liberation war with labor, sweat and blood shed for freedom, reached the peak of challenge in the years of the 1998-1999 war. Thousands of civilians were killed and massacred, among whom were children, women, and the elderly; tens of thousands were abused and hundreds of thousands were displaced, while entire villages and cities were burned, destroyed, and looted.
This entire tragedy reached a point where NATO allied states militarily intervened, stopping the ethnic cleansing and genocide that Serbia was committing against the Albanians of Kosovo. This year we also mark the 26th anniversary of the KLA Epopee and the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Kosovo.
Just as in the liberation days of June 1999, as well as on Kosovo’s Independence Day on 17 February 2008, and even today on the 16th anniversary of our independent Republic, Kosovo has been surrounded by friends and allies, who traveled with us and alongside us, both in difficult times and in festive and memorial moments like today.
As in 1999, as then in 2008, as now in 2024, Kosovo has been, is, and will remain steadfast in its journey, together and alongside friends and allies, Americans who despite being across the Atlantic are close, and Europeans of our shared continent.
With friends and allies, we are stronger and safer.
Together we have come this far and together we will continue even further, advancing towards our destination: the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance, NATO. From the 19 NATO countries that militarily intervened against Serbia, the number grew to 117 countries that recognized our independence.
Only this way, strong with friends and allies. Kosovo, we can do it!
Happy Kosovo Independence Day, on her 16th birthday!
Thank you!
Last modified: February 26, 2024