The Acting President of the Republic of Kosovo, Albulena Haxhiu, paid tribute on the twenty-eighth anniversary of the fall of Fehmi and Xhevë Lladrovci.
According to Acting President Haxhiu, in the lives of Fehmi and Xhevë, love for one another and love for Kosovo always went hand in hand, right up until the day they both fell for its freedom.
“Today, twenty-eight years after their fall, we paid tribute to Fehmi and Xhevë Lladrovci—two figures whom the history of Kosovo holds close together, just as they remained close to one another throughout their entire journey of liberation. He, an engineer, and she, an Albanian language teacher, commenced the path to liberation decades ago, at a time when opposition to the Yugoslav regime was punished with persecution, imprisonment, and dismissal from work,” Acting President Haxhiu emphasized.
She further noted that Fehmi Lladrovci was part of the political organization of the 1980s and spent years in Yugoslav prisons due to his convictions and activism. “When he was arrested in September 1985, he and Xheva had just begun their life together. His long imprisonment severed neither the bond between them nor the path they had chosen. Xheva immediately joined the Lladrovci family, and despite Fehmi’s imprisonment, she continued her political activism on her own during years when any connection to the underground movement posed a grave danger. After Fehmi’s release from prison, their life continued far from Kosovo, yet never far from its cause. They took part in the war in Croatia, continued their political activities in Munich, Germany, and engaged in the preparations that would, over the years, lead to the organization of the liberation war in Kosovo,” stated Acting President Haxhiu.
As she noted, Fehmi himself articulated this in a sentence that remains one of the most powerful from the wartime era: “Freedom is more precious than life.” Xheva did not need to say it. Her entire life—right up to her final stand alongside him at Gradina—bore witness to that same conviction. That is why Fehmiu and Xheva cannot be remembered solely through one another. Each had forged their own path toward the same freedom, and when the final moment came, both dedicated their lives to it. Fehmiu took command of the 114th Brigade and played a key role in organizing, training, and leading KLA units. At a time when the KLA was expanding rapidly and needed to establish structures, positions, and military discipline, his experience carried particular weight. The experience he had gained during the war in Croatia proved invaluable in organizing and commanding KLA units in Drenica. Xheva, meanwhile, played a direct role in the war effort. She participated in both organization and combat, serving on the front lines during several KLA battles in the summer of 1998. Her presence there stemmed from more than just her life with Fehmiu; she, too, had arrived at this path through her own history and convictions. She was a teacher of Albanian language and literature, raised in a family with a tradition of patriotism, and had been involved in political activism from an early age. Therefore, when we speak of Fehmiu and… “We are not speaking merely of a fighter and the wife who followed him; we are speaking of two activists who chose the path of freedom and shouldered the successive risks that came with it. For them, Kosovo’s freedom was not a distant ideal, but a cause to which they dedicated their years, their work, their time in exile, the war, and ultimately, their lives,” emphasized Acting President Haxhiu.
She noted that on September 22nd, 1998, Serbian forces launched a major offensive against KLA positions in Drenica, adding that at Gradina—one of the most critical defensive points for the 114th Brigade—intense, close-quarters combat raged for hours.
“Accounts from fellow fighters that day reveal that Fehmi was directing the battle and maintaining contact with other positions right up until their own post was struck. When Fehmi fell, Xheva held her ground and continued the fight for liberation, refusing to retreat. On September 22nd 1998—at the very place they had reached together after years of imprisonment, persecution, exile, and preparation for war—their journey came to an end,” Acting President Haxhiu emphasized.
Acting President Haxhiu stated that today, alongside Fehmi and Xheva, we also honored Fatime Hetemi, Shefqet Zeka, Behxhet and Milaim Karaxha, and Hamit Lladrovci, adding that their names are an inseparable part of our glorious history—of the struggle and sacrifice upon which Kosovo’s freedom was won.
