Deçan/Gllogjan, June 18th 2018 – President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Thaçi, attended today the commemorative meeting held in honour of Hilmi Haradinaj, the father of Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj.
President Thaçi said that the news on the death of uncle Hilmi was painful for his family and for the rest of us.
“I got to know uncle Hilmi at the very first days of the establishment of the Kosovo Liberation Army, in the spring of 1996. Previousely, though Kadri Veseli I had met with Luan. With both Luan and Kadri we would cross the Kosovo-Albania border, until Luan’s heroic loss of life. At all times, during summers or winters, after the tiring journey, as soon as we would enter Kosovo, together with Shkelzen, we would find shelter at uncle Hilmi, and then continue towards Jabllaninca. Uncle Hilmi would always show wisdom, maturity and great patriotic resilience. He was one of the first core members of the Kosovo Liberation Army. He would always dispense his wise and fatherly counsel to all of us, before, during and after the war. There was no other way, as Ismail Haradinaj was one of the early leaders of the republic of Kosovo cause”, said President Thaci.
Addressing the Haradinaj family, the head of state said that they lost an exceptional husband, father and grandfather, and we lost a veteran, a brother in arms, a man with a great patriotic heart.
He also added that uncle Hilmi was a proven man, tried in Kosovo’s most difficult days.
“Uncle Hilmi never gave up in front of the difficult challenges, even in the post war times. He faced with dignity and peace the unfair imprisonment of his sons. All blows dealt by life he successfully fought back. He was man of great values, smart and modest. The man of Dukagjin and of Kosovo”, added President Thaci.
The head of state also added that uncle Hilmi died in the month of June,, when we are all around Kosovo celebrating the 19th anniversary of the liberation.
On behalf of the intuitions of the Republic of Kosovo, President Thaci awarded the Jubilary Presidential Medal of the 10th Anniversary of the Independence to Hilmi Haradinaj.