DodoFinance Breaking News Made For You!
Vjosa Osmani is the new president of Kosovo. She was elected head of parliament in Pristina on Sunday on a proposal from Prime Minister Albin Kurti’s ruling party Vetëvendosje. Osmani succeeds Hashim Thaçi, who resigned from his post in early November because the Kosovo Tribunal in The Hague will prosecute him for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Osmani, 38, won 71 votes, a large majority in the 120-member parliament. 82 deputies were present, 11 of them cast an invalid vote.
After Thaçi’s departure, Osmani as speaker of parliament has already temporarily performed the honors. Until June 2020, the new president was vice-president of the liberal-conservative LDK, then in power, now in opposition. After an argument within the LDK, she was expelled from the party.
Thaçi must answer in court in The Hague for possible war crimes committed during the struggle for independence of the Kosovar Albanians against Serbia in 1998 and 1999.
The former Kosovo president has denied the accusations and says he has nothing to hide. He has already announced that he will cooperate fully with the tribunal. Kadri Veseli, the current leader of the Kosovar Democratic Party, has also been indicted by the Kosovo Tribunal.
Kosovo declared its independence in 2008 under Thaçi. He had been the country’s prime minister since 2008 and became president in 2016.
What does Thaçi have to answer for?
- Kosovo was once part of the Yugoslav Republic of Serbia. In the 1990s, Yugoslavia collapsed, causing increasing pressure from the Serbs on the Kosovars. Thaçi was the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) which waged a war of independence against Serbia, in which thousands of people died and hundreds of thousands had to flee. The war ended in 1999 after NATO carried out bombings on Serbian targets in Kosovo and Serbia.
“Infuriatingly humble social media ninja. Devoted travel junkie. Student. Avid internet lover.”