Prishtina, 29 July 2026
Distinguished guests,
Brothers and sisters,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am honored that, on the 25th anniversary of Tahir Sinani’s fall, as the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, I am today the host of the commemorative academy dedicated to General Sinani, the unwavering fighter for freedom. This is even more significant because this is the first commemorative academy for Tahir Sinani organized by the central institutions of our state, namely by the Government of the Republic of Kosovo.
While planning this academy, as I was reading and reviewing the numerous biographies written about Tahir Sinani, I noticed an overlap of events and a coincidental connection with a significant date: 29 July. On this date, namely on 29 July 2001, Tahir Sinani lost his life while, together with other fighters of the National Liberation Army, he was engaged in the struggle for the political position of Albanians in North Macedonia.
Therefore, Tahir Sinani’s death occurred precisely on 29 July, giving symbolic meaning to all his battles with his comrades for the liberation and unification of Albanians. This is because, precisely on 29 July, but in 1913, almost nine decades earlier, in the capital of the United Kingdom, London, the ambassadors of Germany, Austria-Hungary, France, Italy and Russia, gathered at the London Peace Conference convened by British Foreign Secretary Sir Edward Grey, recognized the Principality of Albania as a sovereign state.
However, this sovereign state, which was envisioned as a hereditary monarchy, was very different from the Albania imagined by the delegates of the Assembly of Vlora when they declared independence on 28 November 1912. This was because the Albania designed at the London Conference of Ambassadors and recognized as sovereign on 29 July 1913, exactly 113 years ago, included within its territory only one-third of the lands inhabited by an overwhelming majority of Albanians.
The entire Vilayet of Kosovo and large territories of the Vilayet of Shkodra, the Vilayet of Manastir and the Vilayet of Janina, after becoming battlefields first during the Second Balkan War and later during the First World War, remained outside the political territory of Albania, becoming part of Montenegro, the Kingdom of Serbia, respectively Yugoslavia, and Greece.
Precisely on 29 July 1913, with the decisions of the London Conference of Ambassadors, began one of the strongest and most difficult-to-resolve knots in the political fate of Albanians throughout the twentieth century and up to the present day. Albanians who remained outside Albania fought for decades to be liberated and united with the state of Albania, in an effort that represents the essence of the Albanian national cause. At the culmination of these struggles, at the end of the last century and the beginning of this century, among these battles emerged one of the most distinguished fighters for this cause: Tahir Sinani.
Originally from the Tropoja region, Tahir Sinani received professional military training, without knowing himself that he was being prepared for some of the most glorious battles that Albanians would fight in their modern history. When the war in Kosovo became a reality and there was a need for everyone and each individual, Tahir Sinani committed himself to fulfilling his patriotic and professional duty.
Tahir Sinani’s mobilization in the Kosovo Liberation Army in 1998 did not merely add another fighter to the KLA, but brought one of its most valuable officers, who conveyed his professional skills to hundreds of other soldiers before becoming directly involved in the heart of the war.
However, despite this, he refused to bypass the chain of command of the soldiers he had personally trained, insisting that he first pass a personal test: his first confrontation with the Serbian enemy forces. And that is exactly what happened.
Years later, when Tahir Sinani was no longer alive among his fellow fighters, one of them, Rexhep Selimi, also known for his diverse artistic creativity, would translate this act of Tahir Sinani into a poem that would later be composed into a song, which we have naturally included today in this academy.
Tahir Sinani concluded his engagement in the Kosovo war while serving as Commander of the Pashtrik Operational Zone, and in the days of Kosovo’s liberation, he triumphantly entered Prizren at the head of his soldiers. However, shortly after Kosovo’s liberation, an uprising erupted in the Presheva Valley led by the newly established Liberation Army of Presheva, Medvegja and Bujanoc, with participation also from veterans of the Kosovo Liberation Army, aiming at the liberation and unification of these three municipalities with Kosovo.
Tahir Sinani joined the fighting in Presheva as well, bringing with him his fresh experience from Kosovo’s liberation war. He deeply believed that Kosovo’s liberation from Serbia could not be the end, nor the highest achievement, of the liberation and national struggle. Therefore, after the Kosovo Liberation Army, he continued his struggle within the National Liberation Army in North Macedonia in 2001.
This was also the final war of General Tahir Sinani, as unfortunately, he lost his life while preparing landmines on 29 July 2001, together with four other fellow fighters. Tahir Sinani left behind his wife, two daughters and a son, who are with us today at this commemorative academy, carrying with them all the pride they hold for their husband and father.
Also, among us today are many of Tahir Sinani’s friends and fellow fighters. Therefore, I believe that this commemorative academy will also serve as a valuable opportunity for meeting and remembrance, to honour and remember Tahir Sinani and to share with us your memories of him.
Glory to the patriotic deeds and liberation struggle of Tahir Sinani, among the freedom fighters of Kosovo!