Hashim Thaçi ( , born 24
April 1968) is the Prime
Minister of Kosovo
, the Leader
of the Democratic Party of
Kosovo (PDK), and former political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army
(KLA).
Early life and education
Thaçi was
born in Srbica
, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
. He studied philosophy and history at the
University of Pristina.
During his university years, he was an
Albanian student leader and the first student
president of the parallel Albanian University of Pristina that
broke off in 1989 (and organized in the early 1990s) from the
official University due to Kosovar Albanians' protest of
Slobodan Milošević's new
imposed status of the province of
Kosovo.
By 1993,
Thaçi joined the Albanian political émigré group in Switzerland
, where he also pursued postgraduate studies at the
University of
Zurich
in the departments of history and international
relations. There he became one of the founders of the
People's Movement of
Kosovo (LPK), a
Marxist-Leninist political party devoted to
Albanian popular nationalism.
Role in KLA
In 1993, Thaçi became a member of the inner circle of the
Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
Thaçi
(nom de guerre
"Gjarpëri" [The Snake]) was responsible for securing
financial means and armaments, and training recruits in Albania
to be
dispatched to Kosovo. In 1997, Thaçi was tried in absentia
and convicted by the Serbian authorities in Pristina for acts of
terrorism associated with his activities in the KLA.In March 1999,
Thaçi participated in the
Rambouillet negotiations as the leader
of the Kosovar Albanian team. Thaçi was perceived by western
diplomats during the negotiations as the "voice of reason" within
the KLA: his attendance at the negotiations demonstrated a
willingness to accept autonomy for Kosovo within Serbia at a time
when other rebel leaders rejected any solution short of full
national independence. Thaçi emerged from the final diplomatic
settlement as the leader of the strongest faction within a KLA rife
with factionalism. He moved quickly to consolidate power,
unilaterally naming himself prime minister within a provisional
government and allegedly ordering the assassination of the leaders
of rival armed factions.
Alleged Criminal Activities
Thaçi is alleged to have extensive criminal links. During the
period of time when Thaçi was head of the Kosovo Liberation Army,
it was reported by the
Washington
Times to be financing its activities by trafficking heroin
and cocaine into western Europe. KLA supporters, however, insist
that in reality KLA received its financing from Albanian diaspora
in USA, Albanian,UK and USA governments.
Thaçi in particular is seen as being central to the criminal
activities of the
Kosovo
Protection Corps (KPC), who reportedly extorted money from
businessmen under the guise of "taxes" for Thaçi's self appointed
government. While the KLA was officially disbanded at the end of
armed conflict in Kosovo in 1999, the new Kosovo Protection Corps
was composed primarily of former KLA fighters and the
Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK)
was formed largely from the political leadership of the KLA. A near
monopoly on the means of force, based on the absorption of the KLA
into the KPC allowed the Democratic Party of Kosovo to seize
control of the machinery of government at the municipal level. The
Democratic Party of Kosovo has regularly employed violence and
intimidation of political rivals to maintain local political
control and protect criminal enterprises which depend upon
cooperation from friendly local authorities.
The fact that the Democratic Party of Kosovo was seen as both
corrupt and criminal lead directly to the electoral defeat of the
DPK in the first free elections in the province in 2001. The BBC
stated at the time, "The tumbling reputation of the former KLA was
to have a disastrous effect on the PDK because of the perceived
overlap between its political leadership and post-KLA organised
crime."
A recent
analysis of organized crime in Kosovo prepared by German
intelligence service BND
and a confidential report contracted by the German
military, the Bundeswehr accuse Thaçi, as
well as Ramush Haradinaj and the
majority Kosovo parliament faction Xhavit
Haliti of far-reaching involvement in organized crime.
The BND writes: “The key players (including Haliti, Haradinaj, and
Thaçi) are intimately involved in inter-linkages between politics,
business, and organized crime structures in Kosovo.” The report
accuses Thaçi of leading a “criminal network operating throughout
Kosovo.” in the end of the 1990s. The BND report also accuses Thaçi
of contacts with the Czech and Albanian mafias. In addition, it
accuses him, together with Haliti, of ordering killings by an
professional hit man ‘Afrimi’, who is allegedly responsible for at
least 11 contract murders.
Victory in 2007 election and declaration of Kosovar
independence
Kosovo
elections were held on 17 November 2007. After early results
based on 90 per cent of the votes, Hashim Thaçi who was on course
to gain 34 per cent, claimed victory for PDK, the
Democratic Party of Kosovo.
He stated
his intention to declare independence without delay on 10 December,
the date set by the United Nations
for the end of negotiations with Serbia
. At
45 percent, the turnout at the election was particularly low with
most Serbs refusing to vote.
However, on 19 November 2007, several
EU foreign
ministers warned Thaçi and his allies not to go ahead with their
declaration of
independence without consultations.
Luxembourg
's Jean Asselborn and
Sweden
's Carl Bildt urged the
Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) not to make any hasty moves while
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana
stressed the importance of proper preparations prior to formal
independence. After EU talks on Kosovo in London
on 19
November 2007, the UK
's Europe
minister, Jim Murphy, said independence
without foreign support could isolate the breakaway
province.
Hashim Thaçi was designated as the next leader of Kosovo's
government on 11 December 2007 by Kosovar President Fatmir Sejdiu
and told to form a government "as soon as possible". His Democratic
Party of Kosovo began coalition talks with the
Democratic League of Kosovo
(LDK) as well as the
Alliance
for New Kosovo. Those parties together control 75 seats of 120
in the assembly. On 9 January 2008, Thaçi was elected as Prime
Minister by parliament, with 85 votes in favor and 22 against. On
this occasion he stated his intention to achieve independence for
Kosovo in the first half of 2008. On 16 February 2008, Thaçi
announced that the next day, 17 February, would be key for
"implementing the will of the citizens of Kosovo", strongly
implying the province would declare independence from Serbia. On 17
February 2008,
Kosovo declared its
independence from Serbia. Thaçi became Prime Minister of the
newly independent state.
On 6 June
2008, gunmen failed in an attempt to assassinate Thaçi at his home
in Pristina
.
Notes and references
Notes:
References:
External links
See also
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