Prizren\/Planej\u00eb, May 27th 2019 \u2013 President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Tha\u00e7ia, participated today at the marking of the twentieth anniversary of the Operation \u201cArrow DO-2\u201d and the fights in Pashtrik.<\/p>\n
President Tha\u00e7i said that the battle of Pashtrik was one of the most glorious battles of the Kosovo Liberation Army.<\/p>\n
\u201cArrow Project\u201d, in its organisation, decision-making and internal and international echo, was the main project of all battles of the Kosovo Liberation Army,\u201d said the President.<\/p>\n
The head of state said that the necessity for a wide and massive fighting front created by the Kosovo Liberation Army, opposite the Serbian military and police forces, was mentioned as early as in January 1999.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur nation had just emerged from one of the most inhumane massacres, that of Re\u00e7ak, and in order not to allow such things to happen again, the General Staff of the KLA had charged the Operations Directorate with a task to prepare the \u201cArrow\u201d military operation which resulted to be the largest, most massive and most frontal of the KLA. For this reason, all of you, fellow warriors, participants of this wide front, must always feel proud of the glory of the battle you have carried out, and which you and your allies have won together,\u201d said President Tha\u00e7i<\/p>\n
The head of state also said that that at the time, as the Prime Minister of the Provisional Government, he remembers very clearly the local and international echo the operation \u201cArrow\u201d had, and which, apart from ensuring the penetration in three different directions, Koshare, Pashtrik and Koretnik, also aimed the coordination with the NATO air forces, which incessantly hit the camouflaged positions of the Serbian military and police.<\/p>\n
Operation \u201cArrow\u201d or the Pashtrik front, , was an operation which mobilised the whole arsenal of the Kosovo Liberation Army, which gained strong and exceptional backing from the state of Albania, logistic support as well as military, professional and nationwide support,\u00a0 and at the same time the support of the democratic world, the support of NATO alliance. The moment had come for an open offensive, for a wide attacking front, where at the same time the diaspora was mobilised as well, after the call for mobilisation,\u201d said President Tha\u00e7i.<\/p>\n
It was the third and the fourth week of May 1999, when this front was initiated and when the largest and most successful attack of the Kosovo Liberation Army took place.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt that time, seeing that the Serbian army was unable to deal with the massive and powerful Kosovo Liberation Army attack, all their military power was sent to defend and counterattack our units and our brave fighters, who stoically stood their ground in the trenches, and when the Serbian army also utilised the heavy military artillery, masked in the woods, which was later attacked by NATO,\u201d said the President.<\/p>\n
The head of state said that the Battle of Koshare, the Battle of Pashtrik, and the one planned for later, the battle of Koretnik, which never happened because the war ended by then and the Kumanova agreement was signed were projected as the only possibility to have a free corridor between Kosovo and Albania.<\/p>\n
\u201cA corridor which would help us in provisions of armaments, but also in transporting refugees from the war zone to Albania,\u201d added the President.<\/p>\n
For all of us, but also for our allies, said President Tha\u00e7i, the Pashtrik front was a front of hope, of faith and the front of the final victory of the Albanians against Serbia.<\/p>\n
\u201cSerbia suffered the greatest loss during the Kosovo war of 1998-1999, right here at the Pashtrik front, and this was the main battle of the Kosovo Liberation Army and of our war. Our war begun in Prekaz, where the armed war was started against the Serbian police and military forces by the legendary commander Adem Jashari, to be later spread out all around Kosovo,\u201d said President Tha\u00e7i.<\/p>\n
Earlier, in our history, in the last century, we had carried out local rebellions, we had carried out fierce battles against Serbia, but we lacked the strong political and military unity, as well as the international support to achieve the liberation of our country.<\/p>\n
\u201cKosovo Liberation Army, was the exception, it learned from the past, and it took in itself the military spirit and the clear political vision, knowing that a war will be won only through a general mobilisation, with a political clarity and with the backing of partners. Thus, the KLA mobilised the people of Kosovo, the whole nation and when the Albanians got together, NATO also provided its backing for our fight for freedom and independence, for our state,\u201d said the President.<\/p>\n
As the Prime minister of the Provisional Government of the time, President Tha\u00e7i disclosed the conversation he had with General Wesley Clark at the NATO headquarters.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe will overcome it all, he said, but one thing we can never allow to happen. The Serbian army, must never, at any given moment, be allowed to touch the Pashtrik peaks. It is ours, and we well protect it together with you and we shall win this battle; and not a single Serbian soldier, not only in Pashtrik, but also in Zve\u00e7an, will not remain in the territory of the Republic of Kosovo,\u201d said President Tha\u00e7i.<\/p>\n
Based on his constitutional and legal competencies, to all fallen martyrs of the battle of Pashtrik, President Tha\u00e7i has bestowed the order of the \u201cHero of Kosovo.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Prizren\/Planej\u00eb, May 27th 2019 \u2013 President of the Republic of Kosovo, Hashim Tha\u00e7ia, participated today at the marking of the twentieth anniversary of the Operation \u201cArrow DO-2\u201d and the fights in Pashtrik.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[111],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n