Hashim Thaçi

Hashim Thaçi is the President of the Republic of Kosovo, elected on February 26th 2016 by the Assembly of Kosovo. He assumed office on April 7th 2016, after taking the solemn oath in the Assembly of Kosovo.

Before becoming president, Thaçi served as First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs for one year (2014-2015), as well as Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo for two terms (2007-2014).

Thaçi was the first leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and was continuously re-elected as the party’s leader, until his resignation on February 26th 2016, prior to being voted President of Kosovo.

Hashim Thaçi declared Kosovo an independent state on February 17th 2008, led the Kosovo team at the

Rambouillet talks in February 1999, and was the political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Thaçi was the most voted political leader in the June 8, 2014 elections.

As Prime Minister of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi led the political dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia, which on April 19th 2013 resulted in the signing of an agreement for the normalization of relations.

For his commitment to peace and stability, in 2014, Hashim Thaçi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by US congressmen and senators, as well as representatives of the European Parliament.

Political career

Hashim Thaçi’s political career began with his involvement in the People’s Movement of Kosovo (LPK), a political movement that aimed to emancipate the position of Albanians in the former Yugoslavia.

As a student at the University of Prishtina, Thaçi became a leader of the Student Movement between 1990 and 1993, years when the Belgrade government closed down Albanian-language university level educational institutions, while the University of Prishtina began to operate outside the institutional system.

In 1991, Thaçi was elected vice-rector-student of the University of Prishtina, where he contributed to the structuring and development of the parallel university teaching process.

Hashim Thaçi is one of the founders of the political-military organization, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

As head of the Political Directorate of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Thaçi led the Kosovo delegation at the International Conference held in Rambouillet, France, from 6 to 22 February 1999.

After the war, Hashim Thaçi was Prime Minister of the Interim Government of Kosovo from 1999 to 2000.

Hashim Thaçi was a member of the Interim Administrative Council (IAC), the joint governing structure of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the Kosovar political class, until 2001 when the first parliamentary elections were held in post-war Kosovo.

In October 1999, Hashim Thaçi was among the founders of the Party of Democratic Progress of Kosovo (PPDK). At the party’s first electoral convention in 2000, the party changed its name to the Democratic Party of Kosovo, and Hashim Thaçi was elected its chairman, a position he held until 26 February 2016.

Hashim Thaçi was a member of the Unity Team that represented Kosovo in the negotiation process led by the UN Special Envoy, President Martti Ahtisaari, who negotiated the political status of Kosovo, 2005–2007.

After the victory of the Democratic Party of Kosovo in the parliamentary elections of 17 November 2007, Hashim Thaçi was elected Prime Minister of the Government of Kosovo. On February 17th 2008, Prime Minister Hashim Thaçi declared Kosovo an independent state in the Assembly of Kosovo.

Thaçi is the first Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo.

Academic experience

Hashim Thaçi graduated from the Department of History at the University of Pristina. He completed his postgraduate studies in the field of Southeast European History and Political Science at the University of

Zurich in Switzerland (1996 – 1998).

Thaçi speaks English and German.

He was born on April 24th 1968 in the village of Burojë, Skenderaj.

He is married and has a son.