Hashim Thaci
Encyclopedia
Hashim Thaçi is the Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Kosovo
The Prime Minister of Kosovo is Head of Government of the disputed Republic of Kosovo .The Prime Minister and the Government of Kosovo, which he or she heads, are responsible for their actions to the Assembly of Kosovo, of which they must all be members...

 of Republic of Kosovo
Republic of Kosovo
Kosovo , officially the Republic of Kosovo is a partially recognised state and a disputed territory in the Balkans...

, the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo
Democratic Party of Kosovo
The Democratic Party of Kosovo is the largest political party in Kosovo . It is a social democratic party and the main leftist party in Kosovo....

 (DPK), and former political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army
Kosovo Liberation Army
The Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA was a Kosovar Albanian paramilitary organization which sought the separation of Kosovo from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s....

 (KLA).

Early life and education

Thaçi was born in Srbica, SAP Kosovo
Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo
Socialist Autonomous Province of Kosovo was one of the two socialist autonomous areas of the Socialist Republic of Serbia incorporated into the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1974 until 1990...

, SR Serbia
Socialist Republic of Serbia
Socialist Republic of Serbia was a socialist state that was a constituent country of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is a predecessor of modern day Serbia, which served as the biggest republic in the Yugoslav federation and held the largest population of all the Yugoslav...

, SFR Yugoslavia
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was the Yugoslav state that existed from the abolition of the Yugoslav monarchy until it was dissolved in 1992 amid the Yugoslav Wars. It was a socialist state and a federation made up of six socialist republics: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia,...

. He studied philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...

 and history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...

 at the University of Pristina. During his university years, he was an Albanian
Albanians
Albanians are a nation and ethnic group native to Albania and neighbouring countries. They speak the Albanian language. More than half of all Albanians live in Albania and Kosovo...

 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 Kosovo Albanians' protest of Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević
Slobodan Milošević was President of Serbia and Yugoslavia. He served as the President of Socialist Republic of Serbia and Republic of Serbia from 1989 until 1997 in three terms and as President of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia from 1997 to 2000...

's new imposed status of the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija.

By 1993, Thaçi joined the Albanian political émigré group in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, where he also pursued postgraduate studies at the University of Zurich
University of Zurich
The University of Zurich , located in the city of Zurich, is the largest university in Switzerland, with over 25,000 students. It was founded in 1833 from the existing colleges of theology, law, medicine and a new faculty of philosophy....

 in the departments of history and international relations. There he became one of the founders of the People's Movement of Kosovo
People's Movement of Kosovo
The People's Movement of Kosovo is a political party in Kosovo, a former province of Serbia which on February 17, 2008 declared its independence, and was subsequently recognized by 75 states, including most of the European Union countries and powerful Western states.At the last legislative...

 (LPK).

Role in KLA

In 1993, Thaçi became a member of the inner circle of the Kosovo Liberation Army
Kosovo Liberation Army
The Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA was a Kosovar Albanian paramilitary organization which sought the separation of Kosovo from Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in the 1990s....

 (KLA). Thaçi (nom de guerre "Gjarpëri" [The Snake]) was responsible for securing financial means and armaments, and training recruits in Albania
Albania
Albania , officially known as the Republic of Albania , is a country in Southeastern Europe, in the Balkans region. It is bordered by Montenegro to the northwest, Kosovo to the northeast, the Republic of Macedonia to the east and Greece to the south and southeast. It has a coast on the Adriatic Sea...

 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
Rambouillet Agreement
The Rambouillet Agreement is the name of a proposed peace agreement between then-Yugoslavia and a delegation representing the ethnic-Albanian majority population of Kosovo. It was drafted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation and named for Chateau Rambouillet, where it was initially proposed...

 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
The Washington Times
The Washington Times is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. It was founded in 1982 by Unification Church founder Sun Myung Moon, and until 2010 was owned by News World Communications, an international media conglomerate associated with the...

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 the Albanian diaspora in US and the Albanian, UK and US governments.

Thaçi in particular is seen as being central to the criminal activities of the Kosovo Protection Corps
Kosovo Protection Corps
The Kosovo Protection Corps was a civilian emergency services organisation in Kosovo active from 1999 to 2009.The KPC was created on September 21, 1999 through the promulgation of UNMIK Regulation 1999/8 and the agreement of a "Statement of Principles" on the KPC's permitted role in Kosovo...

 (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
Democratic Party of Kosovo
The Democratic Party of Kosovo is the largest political party in Kosovo . It is a social democratic party and the main leftist party in Kosovo....

 (DPK) 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 that depend upon cooperation from friendly local authorities.

The fact that the Democratic Party of Kosovo was seen as both corrupt and criminal led directly to the electoral defeat of the PDK 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
Bundesnachrichtendienst
The Bundesnachrichtendienst [ˌbʊndəsˈnaːχʁɪçtnˌdiːnst] is the foreign intelligence agency of Germany, directly subordinated to the Chancellor's Office. Its headquarters are in Pullach near Munich, and Berlin . The BND has 300 locations in Germany and foreign countries...

 and a confidential report contracted by the German military, the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...

 accuse Thaçi, as well as Ramush Haradinaj
Ramush Haradinaj
Ramush Haradinaj is a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army and former prime minister of Kosovo. He leads the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and is among former KLA officers charged of war crimes during the 1999 Kosovo War by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...

 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 responsible for at least 11 contract murders.

Council of Europe accusations

A report to the Council of Europe, written by Dick Marty
Dick Marty
Dick Marty is a Swiss politician and former state prosecutor of the canton of Ticino. He is a member of the Swiss Council of States , and a member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.-Education:Marty holds a doctorate in law from the University of Neuchâtel with the thesis:...

, issued on December 15, 2010 states that Hacim Thaçi was leader to the "Drenica Group" in charge of trafficking organs taken from Serbian prisoners. As reported by several international, Serbian, Kosovan and Albanian news agencies, in an interview for Albanian TV Klan on December 24, 2010, Thaçi said that he would publish the methods used by Dick Marty and the names of his collaborators to write the report that accuses him of organ trafficking in Kosovo.

BBC news reports that it has seen a draft copy of the Council of Europe document, and asserts that it names "Hashim Thaci, Kosovo's current prime minister and wartime political leader of the KLA, 27 times in as many pages". The report is said by them to accuse Former KLA commanders of serious human rights abuses, including organ and drug trafficking. In 2011 Marty retracted from earlier comments and claimed that his report never implicated Thaci directly.

Victory in 2007 election and declaration of Kosovar independence

Kosovo elections
Kosovan parliamentary election, 2007
Parliamentary elections to the unicameral Assembly of Kosovo were held on 17 November 2007, together with municipal elections. The Assembly of Kosovo is the legislative branch of the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government that the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo ...

 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 percent, claimed victory for the DPK. He stated his intention to declare independence without delay on 10 December, the date set by the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...

 for the end of negotiations with Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...

. 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
2008 Kosovo declaration of independence
The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence was adopted on 17 February 2008 by individual members of the Assembly of Kosovo acting in personal capacity and not binding to the Assembly itself...

 without consultations. Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...

's Jean Asselborn
Jean Asselborn
Jean Asselborn is a Luxembourger politician. Since 31 July 2004, he has been the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Immigration in the government led by Jean-Claude Juncker....

 and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

's Carl Bildt
Carl Bildt
, Honorary KCMG is a Swedish politician, diplomat and nobleman. Formerly Prime Minister of Sweden from 1991 to 1994 and leader of the liberal conservative Moderate Party from 1986 to 1999, Bildt has served as Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs since 6 October 2006...

 urged the DPK not to make any hasty moves while EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana
Javier Solana
Francisco Javier Solana de Madariaga, KOGF is a Spanish physicist and Socialist politician. After serving in the Spanish government under Felipe González and Secretary General of NATO , he was appointed the European Union's High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Secretary...

 stressed the importance of proper preparations prior to formal independence. After EU talks on Kosovo in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 on 19 November 2007, the UK's Europe minister, Jim Murphy
Jim Murphy
James Francis "Jim" Murphy is a British Labour Party politician and is the Member of Parliament for East Renfrewshire....

, 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
Democratic League of Kosovo
The Democratic League of Kosovo is the second largest political party in Kosovo. It is a conservative and liberal conservative party; the main right-wing party in 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
2008 Kosovo declaration of independence
The 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence was adopted on 17 February 2008 by individual members of the Assembly of Kosovo acting in personal capacity and not binding to the Assembly itself...

 from Serbia. Thaçi became Prime Minister of the newly independent state.

On 6 June 2008, a gunman broke into Thaçi's home in Pristina
Pristina
Pristina, also spelled Prishtina and Priština is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. It is the administrative centre of the homonymous municipality and district....

, while the latter was not present.

Honours and awards

: On 20 June 2008 received a copy of the key of the city of Tirana
Tirana
Tirana is the capital and the largest city of Albania. Modern Tirana was founded as an Ottoman town in 1614 by Sulejman Bargjini, a local ruler from Mullet, although the area has been continuously inhabited since antiquity. Tirana became Albania's capital city in 1920 and has a population of over...

 on the occasion of his state visit to Albania.

External links


See also

  • Strategic Bombardment in the Kosovo War

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