Dr. Jakup Krasniqi

Brief biography of Jakup Krasniqi

Jakup Krasniqi was born on January 1st 1951, in the village of Negrovc in the municipality of Drenas. In addition to his professional training and completing his studies in the History department at the University of Prishtina, he was also one of the leaders of the patriotic activity against the Serbian occupiers.

After completing his studies, Jakup Krasniqi played an important role as a teacher:

• 1972-1977, teacher in Fatos and Arllat;
• 1976-1977, teacher at the Drenas high school;
• 1979-1981, teacher in Arllat and then in the Skenderaj high school.

Due to his political activity in the interest of realizing our national aspirations, Jakup Krasniqi has served more than 10 years in prison.

After completing his sentence and being released from prison, Jakup Krasniqi became involved in the Democratic League of Kosovo. Initially within the LDK structures in Drenas and, later, as a member of the party leadership, Jakup Krasniqi made an extraordinary contribution during the peaceful resistance.

Due to the great authority he enjoyed among the people, in the elections held under occupation during the period 1992-1998, Jakup Krasniqi was elected a deputy at the Assembly of Kosovo. Despite the fact that the occupiers did not allow the functioning of this assembly, the efforts to build a parallel government in the face of the Serbian regime had their positive effects in legitimizing our national aspirations for freedom and independence.

In parallel with his political activity, Jakup Krasniqi continued his contribution in the pedagogical and educational field as a teacher at the “Skënderbeu” Gymnasium in Drenas (1991-1994) and chairman of the Education Council in Drenas (1995-1998).

From the beginning of the outbreak of the armed conflict, Jakup Krasniqi served as a spokesman and one of its political representatives. During the Rambouillet Conference, Jakup Krasniqi demonstrated high political and diplomatic qualities, playing an extremely important role in preserving the unity of the Kosovo delegation in these talks.

After the end of the liberation war, Jakup Krasniqi held several positions:

during the period of June 1999 – January 2000, he was Minister of the Ministry for Reconstruction and Development and Spokesperson of the Provisional Government of Kosovo;

• Member of Parliament in the First Legislature of Kosovo, constituted on 17 November 2001;
• during the period of March 2002 – December 2004 he was Minister of the Ministry of Public Services in the Government of Kosovo;
• during the period of 23 November 2004 – 12 December 2007 he was Member of Parliament at the Second Legislature of Kosovo and Head of the Parliamentary Group of the Democratic Party of Kosovo;
• during the period of 13 December 2007 – 3 November 2010 he was Member of Parliament at the Third Legislature of Kosovo and Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo;
• during the period of 2 September 2010 – 22 February 2011, as Speaker of the Assembly, Jakup Krasniqi exercised the office of President of Kosovo, after the resignation of Fatmir Sejdiu from this office;
• he held the same position from April 1st 2011 to April 7th  2011, after Behxhet Pacolli resigned from this position;
• from 12 December 2010 to 7 May 2014 he was a member of parliament at the Fourth Legislature of Kosovo and Speaker of the Assembly of Kosovo.

Despite being elected as a member of parliament in the Fifth Legislature of Kosovo, on 20 January 2015 Jakup Krasniqi resigned from his position as a member of parliament and limited his political activity to the Social Democratic Initiative, as chairman of the National Council of this party.

In addition to his political commitments, Jakup Krasniqi has made a great contribution as a publicist and historian, where through numerous articles and works, he shed light on many aspects of the historical process related to the resistance of the people of Kosovo, as well as the challenges that Kosovo faced after the country’s independence.

Some of Jakup Krasniqi’s main works are:

• The Great Turn – The Kosovo Liberation Army, “Buzuku” Publishing House, Prishtina 2006, 302 pages.
• Kosovo in a historical context; “Europrinty” Publishing House, Prishtina 2007, 128 pages.
• A Different War for Kosovo; “Buzuku” Publishing House, Prishtina 2007, 222 pages.
• Independence as a Compromise; “Buzuku” Publishing House, Prishtina 2010, 202 pages.
• Kosovo in the Historical Context; Second Complete Edition, “Buzuku” Publishing House, Prishtina, 202 pages.
• The Movement for the Republic of Kosovo 1981-1991 According to the Albanian Press, “Buzuku” Publishing House, Prishtina 2011, 315 pages.
• Dare to Love Freedom, “Buzuku” Publishing House, Prishtina 2011, 189 pages.
• Spring of Freedom ‘81, “Buzuku” Publishing House, Prishtina 2011, 189 pages.
• Sacrifice for Freedom, “Buzuku” Publishing House, Prishtina 2011, 185 pages.
• Independence and Personalities: on the 100th Anniversary of Albania’s Independence, “Buzuku” Publishing House, Prishtina 2012, 394 pages.
• A contested history: a review of Oliver Jens Schmitt’s book: “Kosovo – a short history of a central Balkan region”, “Buzuku” publishing house, Prishtina 2013, 222 pages.
• Skanderbeg and messages for the 21st century, published by the “Ali Hadri” Institute of History, Prishtina 2018, 288 pages.
• The art of negotiations, “Buzuku” publishing house, Prishtina 2018, 214 pages.
• Historical confrontations for liberation and national unification, published by the “Ali Hadri” Institute of History, Prishtina, 2019, 412 pages.
• Serbian aggression and the Kosovo tax, “Buzuku” publishing house, Prishtina, 2021, 238 pages.