July 1990, the second day of the month. Strong rays of sunlight. Delegates of the then Assembly of Kosovo, surrounded by a cordon of Serbian police, were marking a historic turning point for Albanians.

Albanian citizens had come out in support of them.

That day, the Constitutional Declaration was adopted, and Kosovo was proclaimed a distinct entity within the then Yugoslav federation. The document became the legal foundation for the journey toward full independence.

The session was held outside the Parliament building, under siege by large police and military forces.

Muharrem Shabani had arrived in Pristina from Vushtrri three days before July 2nd. He wanted to avoid any obstacle that might prevent him from being present on that historic day.

“We see it as an event that expressed the will of the people of Kosovo at that time — politically and legally — for Kosovo to have a completely different status from what it had then. In fact, the autonomy granted under the 1974 Yugoslav constitution was illegally abolished by the Serbian regime,” he said.

Former Kosovo Assembly delegate Muharrem Shabani stated, “With the Constitutional Declaration of July 2, Kosovo declared its independence.”

Shabani, the former delegate who read the Constitutional Declaration, shares his story 35 years later in an interview with ​KosovaPress.

The meeting, led by Bujar Gjurgjeala, began at 12:00, under the intense July sun.

“I didn’t feel any particular fear. Naturally, there was unity among the colleagues — there were no divisions. Everyone participated in that July 2 session, everyone supported me, and we carried out that act as it was planned... From a legal-constitutional perspective, it was the first act by which the independence of the Republic of Kosovo was declared... It was a legitimate institution that declared it — it wasn’t declared under a tree or by a stream — it was declared in the Assembly, even though the doors were locked and snipers could be seen on the government building. They brought me a chair to read it from — I refused. I said I would read it standing, because it was an act of great importance. If it was fate that we would die, then we would die for this act, all together,” Shabani said.

This act represented more than just a political declaration — it was the call of a people for dignity, freedom, and self-determination.

Today, 35 years later, the delegates of that Assembly remember the Declaration not just as a document, but as a "sacred cornerstone in the foundation of our state."

According to them, the declaration preceded the Kaçanik Constitution and marked a historic turning point on the path toward long-awaited freedom and independence.

The declaration had been preceded by a resolution from the Academy of Sciences of Kosovo, which outlined the constitutional and legal status of the Republic of Kosovo.

Immediately after the date was set, Serbian authorities in Kosovo attempted to prevent the meeting, sending a telegram requesting its postponement. However, the Albanian delegates did not back down, and on July 2, the Constitutional Declaration was proclaimed.

The former Deputy Speaker of the Kosovo Assembly, Ilaz Ramalija, in an account for ​KosovaPress, recalled key moments from that crucial day for Kosovo.

“On July 2, around 08:00, special units called ‘federal units’ — but in reality, they were Serbian special forces — entered the Assembly building and blocked almost every floor. The Speaker of the Assembly, who was in his office at the time, ordered the Assembly staff — part of whom were Albanian, but there were Serbs too — to lock the door to prevent delegates from entering the chamber... Delegates gathered in front of the Assembly — behind the building, not at the official entrance — waiting for the session to begin. The Constitutional Declaration had previously been distributed to the delegates, and the text was written by Gazmend Zajmi... It was a sunny day, the delegates were surrounded by a police cordon, and beyond the police stood a massive crowd of citizens supporting the delegates and demanding the police not intervene,” he said.

Ramalija believes that without the July 2 Constitutional Declaration, Kosovo’s 2008 Declaration of Independence would not have happened.

“Exactly at 12:00, Bujar, after having gathered signatures from all the delegates — because we feared the session might be violently interrupted and wanted at all costs to publish the Constitutional Declaration as the will of the Assembly delegates — opened the meeting. Everything proceeded as planned, the scheduled decisions were taken, and Muharrem read the Constitutional Declaration with his resounding voice... The July 2 Constitutional Declaration is the foundation upon which all other acts expressing the will of the people for freedom and independence were based — acts that were reinforced through countless public gatherings. It was an element that defined the right of Kosovo Albanians to self-determination, a right also guaranteed by international law. The July 2 Declaration later served as the basis for the September 7 Constitution, the 1991 referendum for an independent and sovereign Kosovo, and the establishment of independent Albanian institutions in and outside of Kosovo... Without the existence and moment of the July 2 Constitutional Declaration, I believe we would not have had the 2008 Declaration of Independence,” Ramalija declared.

The Constitutional Declaration of July 2, 1990, stands as one of the most important acts of Kosovo’s political resistance against the Serbian regime, and a fundamental step in its path to independence.