Prishtina, 30 August 2025
The Acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, together with the Acting Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Sveçla, and the General Director of the Kosovo Police, Gazmend Hoxha, paid tribute at the memorial plaque of police officer Triumf Riza, on the 18th anniversary of his fall. Following the tribute, Prime Minister Kurti, accompanied by the family of officer Riza, took part in the foundation-laying ceremony of the memorial dedicated to police officer Triumf Riza.
“Before being a courageous police officer, Triumf Riza was a courageous man. Immediately in 1999, when he was only 20 years old, he joined the Kosovo Police, then the Kosovo Police Service, to serve public order and the rule of law. He was dedicated and uncompromising,” said Prime Minister Kurti, while highly praising Riza’s tireless work in the service of citizens and in defense of justice.
Since he lived in this neighborhood for nine years, Prime Minister Kurti said he had personally known Triumf Riza, describing him as a phenomenal young man of the capital, who loved justice and never spared himself, not even for a moment, in its defense.
“And now, as a Hero of Kosovo, as someone who sacrificed his life against gangs and criminal groups, against those who seek to stand above the state and against the citizen, he has become an inspiration for every state official, not only for the Kosovo Police,” said Prime Minister Kurti, adding that the Foundation-Laying Ceremony of the memorial dedicated to him will forever remind us, and the generations to come, that serving the Republic of Kosovo is both an honor and a responsibility—and for this we have role models whom we must all follow, together and each of us individually.
Full Speech of Prime Minister Kurti:
Together with the parents of Kosovo’s hero, police officer Triumf Riza, and with other members of the Riza family, with the Minister of Internal Affairs Xhelal Sveçla, with the Police Director Gazmend Hoxha, and with the senior officers of the Kosovo Police, we are here to pay tribute to an extraordinary police officer who, 18 years ago, right at this place—in the parking lot of the Dardania neighborhood in the capital—was brutally murdered in an ambush with a hail of bullets.
Before being a courageous police officer, Triumf Riza was a courageous man. Immediately in 1999, when he was only 20 years old, he joined the Kosovo Police, then the Kosovo Police Service, to serve public order and the rule of law. He was dedicated and uncompromising.
I lived in this neighborhood for nearly nine years and I knew Triumf Riza personally. He was a phenomenal young man of the capital, who loved justice and never spared himself, not even for a moment, for justice. And all citizens who knew him, all his friends and companions, have only the best words for him, because even in life he was a role model for everyone.
And now, as a Hero of Kosovo, as someone who sacrificed his life against gangs and criminal groups, against those who seek to stand above the state and against the citizen, he has become an inspiration for every state official, not only for the Kosovo Police. Therefore, we held the foundation-laying ceremony of the memorial dedicated to him, which will forever remind us, and the generations to come, that serving the Republic of Kosovo is both an honor and a responsibility. For this, we have role models whom we must all follow, together and each of us individually.
Glory to Triumf Riza and to all the police officers of the Republic of Kosovo who have fallen in the line of duty!
