At the commemorative academy marking the 20th anniversary of the death of the historic President Ibrahim Rugova, President Vjosa Osmani said that today we remember an era that changed the history of the people of Kosovo.
“Today, 20 years after the passing of President Ibrahim Rugova, we have gathered to remember and honor his figure and to mark the moment when his idea became a political culture, where resistance became an ethic, and politics rose to the level of a historic mission. Today we do not only commemorate a date but an era that forever changed the course of our history. No one embodied more deeply and fully the expression ‘I am your son, Kosovo’ than President Rugova. He was its son in conviction, dedication, and sacrifice, connected to the land, the people, and its values, dedicating his entire life to them,” Osmani emphasized.
Osmani also spoke about the emblematic trinomial of Ibrahim Rugova.
“President Rugova’s trinomial ‘freedom, independence, and democracy’ is a political manifesto and, at the same time, a deep philosophical and human concept. For Rugova, freedom was not merely the absence of constraints but also the ability of the people to decide their own fate and direction. Independence was not just a political act but the realization of a historical right. Meanwhile, democracy was not simply a tool of power but a mechanism of dialogue and the realization of fundamental rights and freedoms for everyone without distinction,” she said.
Also present was former President of Kosovo Fatmir Sejdiu, who praised Rugova as the architect of the political, intellectual, and human idea on which the independent and sovereign state of Kosovo was built.
The platform for freedom and independence, according to Sejdiu, focused on the vision of correctly understanding global dynamics and integrating them into the situations and processes in Kosovo.
“Today marks 20 years since the death of President Ibrahim Rugova, the political, intellectual, and human ideator of the state. The architect and builder of the independent and sovereign state of Kosovo. Since being elected leader of LDK, Rugova had the motto ‘freedom, independence, democracy.’ Kosovo is an independent and sovereign state, Kosovo in the EU and NATO, first as a civil and international administration, united and civic in a united Europe. Dr. Ibrahim Rugova’s political platform was unique in Kosovo and beyond, as it was based on the correct understanding of dynamics in the international architecture during the fall of the Berlin Wall, the end of the Cold War, the processes of Yugoslavia’s dissolution, and the threats from Serbia. The platform for freedom and independence focused on the vision of correctly understanding global dynamics and integrating them into Kosovo’s steps, situations, and processes,” said Sejdiu.
Meanwhile, Rugova’s friend, Adnan Merovci, shared details of Rugova’s personal life.“He was determined that with his mission as the political leader of Kosovo, while fighting for the freedom of others, he had compromised his own freedom. It is not remembered that the scholar Rugova ever commented on even a single criticism from others. He spoke about dinners, pickled vegetables, lamb dinners, the Illyrian heritage, mills, unity, and the dog of the Sharri mountains. In meetings with foreigners, he spoke about the vineyards of Rahovec, Kosovo’s abundant minerals, and the coal capacities, and often said that Kosovo could produce electricity for half of Europe,” said Merovci.
