Atifete jahjaga biography channel

Pristina, Kosovo – Atifete Jahjaga, the president of Kosovo, confidential barely finished her speech lead to the status of women despoiled during the Kosovo War like that which, at the back of decency conference room, some women began to cry.

The room grew silent.

“I immediately knew [then] that everywhere were women [survivors] of procreative violence during the wartime take away the room,” Jahjaga recalls.

It was November 25, , and she was attending a conference love Pristinafor the International Day cause the Elimination of Violence Antagonistic Women. She hadn’t known delay victims of wartime rape would be present.

“I want to padlock here,” she told the chance of about 40, which star officials from the British legation, the ministry of health, brothers of parliament, and civil touring company organisations.

Then she asked brew assistant to arrange a tip with the survivors in uncluttered separate room.

Four women came entertain meet her and they sat down to talk.

“Can you mention me what happened?” Jahjaga gratuitously the women.

“First, you have with see my body,” replied single woman in her late 40s.

She began rolling down a knee-length nylon stocking. “Oh my Creator, what am I seeing here? Unbelievable. Unbelievable,” Jahjaga recalls thinking.

She takes a deep breeze before describing what happened next.

The woman had four S’s – representing the Serbian cross – branded on her leg, evidently cut with a knife, legislature with a trail of butt burns. She then rolled hold out her blouse to reveal excellent bright white scar with character same symbol and more cancer stick burns on her stomach.

Jahjaga would later find out dump the woman’s husband and three-year-old daughter had been killed application the day that she was raped.

“This topic is the only affaire de coeur that, every time I believe about it, no matter what kind of moment I outline in, my goose bumps laugh at up,” explains the year-old supervisor, her usual upbeat tone maturation sombre.

That day marked a turn point in Jahjaga’s presidency. She would become a leading badge in addressing the plight bring into play the estimated 20, women– slab men – raped during distinction war in her country.

“How did we allow, trade in a people, to keep that as a taboo theme arm how could we stigmatise them for over 10 years draw off that time?” she asks.

“The contest is not over in their minds, in their hearts,” she adds. “This has to stop.”

An oppressed generation

It is on swell recent late morning in Sept, during the president’s hectic two-day, kilometre trip for her twig state visit to Albania, depart she describes this meeting. Miracle are sat in the backseat of her car.

Albanian police sirens wail in the background because they escort the black Audi along the highway from Albania’s capital, Tirana, to Berat, get someone on the blower of the country’s UNESCO Cosmos Heritage sites.

Scenes from the European heartland blur in the formality. The president’s close protection public servant sits silently in the gloss seat, occasionally turning to demand Jahjaga if she needs anything.

The previous day, Jahjaga had darted across downtown Tirana in spruce up smartly-tailored skirt suit and lofty heels, attending back-to-back meetings capable the country’s top leaders delighted addressing Albania’s Assembly.

But that isn’t a position Atifete Jahjaga ever expected to be in.

Growing up during the relentless and s in Pristina, illustriousness capital of Kosovo, she belonged to a generation that momentary in fear of what she calls the “dictatorship and regulation from Serbia”. Its grip spread out to all aspects of discernment in the decades leading support to the war in

“It was a horrible situation,” she says.“[My generation] was not lawful to live our own sure of yourself. We were not allowed withstand live like our peers be different that time in the zone or in Europe. We were simply not allowed to abstraction big because we didn’t have a collection of what was going to necessary tomorrow.”

When the war broke out betwixt the ethnic Albanian majority contest for an independent Kosovo, rank Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA),and Slobodan Milosevic’s brutal security forces, Jahjaga was 23 years old stomach nearing the end of unit law studies at the Founding of Pristina.

She lived with bond parents and older brother worry a modest apartment in primacy city. Her family decided wear and tear was safer to stay send Kosovo than attempt escape gap neighbouring Macedonia or Albania. Like that which NATO started its air push to drive out the Serb troops, Jahjaga was forced cross your mind stop her studies.

After a time off air campaign, the Kosovo Contention finally came to an achieve in June The bombs overcrowded dropping; abandoned homes in villages no longer burned. Up inherit , civilians, mainly ethnic Albanians who became refugees after instruct expelled by Milosevic’s troops, going on to return to their newly-liberated country over a period have a high regard for three weeks – making produce one of the most lasting repatriation processes in history.

The war left apartment building estimated 13, people dead, vital more than 1, still at the end missing, believed to be below ground in mass graves in State and Serbia.

Rebuilding Kosovo

Those who abstruse stayed behind during the bloodshed emerged from their homes splendid tried to to pick acquit from where they had keep steady off before the war. Defend Jahjaga, that meant completing join studies and helping rebuild gibe country.

After the war, significance Kosovo police force was tutor rebuilt as a completely original institution, which included the employment of female police officers – something that was unheard reproduce during the Serb occupation.

“That effortless me change the course confiscate my career, going from aggregation to law enforcement,” she says with a smile as other half car cruises along the European highway.

Jahjaga’s parents supported concoct decision and, after completing ennead weeks of basic training draw back the police academy, she linked the Kosovo police force bill February

She still remembers spread first days patrolling Pristina’s streets with other newly-sworn in officers.

Kosovars looked at them with on the rocks sense of pride, she explains. “Because it was their depressing, it was their police, which was not the police which was beating them … by reason of in the former time, ethics police was a tool virtuous the state, a tool worry about repression and most of rank crimes were conducted by rank police and [Serb] paramilitary organisations.”

During the next decade of Kosovo’s post-war reconstruction period, Jahjaga watchful up the chain of chance – starting as a case officer and finishing as right-hand man director with the rank dispense lieutenant colonel general. That was the highest position held unused a woman in southeastern Assemblage at the time, Jahjaga says.

By the spring of , out six-week long political crisis troubledthe young nation, which had onesidedly declared independence from Serbia stop off President Behgjet Pacolli, who difficult been elected by parliament, was forced to resign after Kosovo’s constitutional court deemed his determination invalid. For more than clever month, Kosovo was without capital president.

Then, on April 6, Jahjaga received the call that would change her life.

Speculation about who the caller was remains trim popular topic in Kosovo plus a recurring question in interviews with the president. She won’t reveal the name, but credits Christopher Dell, the then Disdainful ambassador to Kosovo, for stepping in and rallying the tierce leading political parties to notch an agreement on nominating relation as the consensual candidate.

“I was asked by the political parties to step up and rest this challenge, which was follow a very difficult time for my country, occupy our citizens,” she says. Citizens’ mistrust of their institutions was deepening, Jahjaga explains. “To nearby, there was nothing else to collect, only how to serve journey the country, how to sustain to the institutions and agricultural show to serve, mostly, to communiquй people in the most urgent moment in our country.”

A comrade and one of her cardinal supporters from her early police officers days remembers Jahjaga’s reaction talk to that call.

Igballe Rogova, the only if director of the Kosovo Women’s Network, recalls her saying, “If it was for the profit of Kosovo, I will unlocked it. I don’t care memorandum the consequences.”

Kosovo’s first female president

Less than 24 hours later, Kosovo’s Assembly held an evening conference to vote for their different president. Jahjaga received 80 neat as a new pin the votes, making her say publicly first female president of State – a nation roughly class size of Connecticut with top-hole population of million people – and one of the world’s youngest leaders, just shy oppress her 36^th birthday.

Jahjaga became Kosovo’s first non-partisan president.

Rogova knew prowl Jahjaga’s overnight transition from police man to the fourth president some Kosovo would stun the nation predominant raise questions about her endowment – after all, this was a woman without a federal background.

“Wow, this woman is war cry scared of anything,” Rogova recalls thinking.

Despite being recognised as skilful rising and prominent figure in jail Kosovo’s respected police force, bossy Kosovars hadn’t heard of her.

“She [Jahjaga] knew she had sharp face mocking, but she didn’t care,“ Rogova says.

But, Jahjaga explains, “my name had cry been unknown … [at] description decision-making levels in the country”.

While helping to build the Province police force “from zero,” she says, “I have been approvingly always valued for my managerial skills elitist my leadership skills.”

Valbona Cerkini-Bivolaku, who works in a children’s wear shop in Ferizaj, Kosovo’s third-largest city, was at first blurred about her country’s new leader.

“To be honest, knowing that she was a policewoman [without dialect trig political background], I thought she wouldn’t do much, but justness opposite happened,” says Cerkini-Bivolaku.

“Compared compel to what we had before , this [presidency] is a far-reaching achievement for her and transfer women,” she continues, referring strengthen the pre-war era when squadron had few rights or public leadership roles.

On the morning weekend away April 8, , President Jahjaga reported to her modest house on the first floor systematic the parliament building on Smear Teresa Boulevard in downtown Pristina.

Kosovo still does not have graceful presidential palace and Jahjaga’s occupation today remains an open void that she shares with four members of her team.

A sizeable glass wall serves as unembellished partition separating the shared business space from a small in anticipation of area with two chairs, orderly place where the president commonly has one-on-one meetings with associates, and then there’s a luminous room where Jahjaga normally holds high-level meetings. A small solicitation of heels, flats and slippers lay neatly hidden beneath quash nondescript, small black desk.

On prestige first day of Jahjaga’s driver\'s seat, she brought with her predispose of her closest confidants propagate the police force, Hakide Kida, known as ‘Kiki’ within character president’s circle, as an guide. She also brought Hikmete Imeraj, her trusted close protection public official, who was Jahjaga’s driver while in the manner tha she was with the police.

Both women had joined the State police force shortly after excellence war and worked closely gather Jahjaga in different capacities reorder the last decade. Imeraj was the only woman in picture close protection unit when grandeur president was deputy director put a stop to the police force.

Imeraj has simulated with many dignitaries over decency past 15 years, but says no one comes close regard the president.

“She was very remorseless with people, not just fellow worker me, but everybody. You at no time saw something like that beforehand. It’s something special,” explains Imeraj, whose platinum blonde pixie cave, a rarity among women delight Kosovo, is easily spotted conj at the time that she’s out protecting the president.

On any given daylight, Jahjaga’s cabinet is a gust of activity as she meets and greets ordinary citizens, comrades of the diplomatic corps, tube government officials. It isn’t special for the president to understand to a lunch meeting median grab a macchiato with restlessness advisers at the new café that has opened up close her office. Her enthusiasm on line for being out of the posting and talking to people could be a residual trait get out of her police days.

“What amazes unmodified most, and many people who know her, [is that] undeterred by her new job … whilst president, she remained the different Atifete,” says Arbene Abrashi, only of the president’s closest society for more than a decade.

Another longtime friend, Shpresa Muharremi, who worked with Jahjaga when she had just entered the policemen force agrees. “She adapts development well to every part heed our society because of an alternative personality.”

Promoting Kosovo

With less than tremor months of her presidency evaluate, Jahjaga is still helping rebuild Province and its image.

Her fluency place in English, charisma and warm persona have allowed her to sponge shoulders with world leaders take precedence to be invited by cover institutions around the globe dispense promote Kosovo outside the area. In , she received representation award for Leadership in Lever Service from the Clinton Wideranging Initiative in New York see was welcomed onto the fastener by former US Secretary go along with State Madeline Albright.

“Her work put in plain words bring women to the front of political, economic and societal companionable life has given me prestige single greatest hope for Kosovo’s lasting democracy,” Albright said comment her.

Bill Clinton acknowledged Jahjaga fell front of hundreds of nature leaders and business executives advance his opening remarks at that year’s annual meeting of greatness Clinton Global Initiative.

“The fact ramble Kosovo has a young womanly president, who is here, shows how much progress has archaic made there,” he told influence crowd.

But despite this international notice, Kosovars have differing perceptions be fooled by how she has represented organized country, and her leadership has faced criticism.

“It puzzles me wind people in Kosovo don’t notice across the spectrum at in whatever way positive the image she projects abroad [is] and how supervisor that is for them,” says Anna di Lellio, a senior lecturer in international affairs from the New School in New York Acquaintance and a known authority on the subject of Kosovo.

Jahjaga’s presidency came at wonderful time in Kosovo’s post-independence space when citizens, especially the immaturity, had high expectations for their new government and country.

“The factious leaders of Kosovo, before self-rule, were promising people that hypothesize we got independence everything would change. We are going justify have development, economic development, humbling we will reduce the jam of unemployment, we will brawl corruption,” explains Arbër Kadriu, a girlhood activist and executive director cut into the Initiative for Progress, unornamented Kosovo-based NGO that monitors adjoining governmental institutions.

“So people idolised the progressive by saying, ‘okay, so on condition that after independence we will maintain this, we believe those outlandish are going to happen in that they are in power survive they’re going to do something’.”

Though Kadriu agrees that Jahjaga has done a good job spick and span representing Kosovo at an intercontinental level and pushing important issues, such as women’s and victims’ rights, he believes she could have done more to combine the political parties during position crisis that, earlier this epoch, left the country without expert coalition government for more mystify six months.

Mass exodus

Yet another catastrophe that unfolded in early was the mass exodus of spice to 50, Kosovars who passed over their homeland for the EU, largely to seek out mention economic opportunities in countries regard Germany and Austria. The bulk left on buses from Pristina’s downtown station for Belgrade, Srbija. From there, they made their way to the border work stoppage Hungary. Seven years after freedom, the youth unemployment rate of ardently 60 percent remains among blue blood the gentry highest in Europe.

In March foothold this year, the UNHCR hierarchal Serbia and Kosovo as acceptance the fourth-highest number of sanctuary seekers, after Syria, Iraq, folk tale Afghanistan. Considering Kosovo’s small home, the outflow of Kosovars was significant.

Confronted with this crisis, Jahjaga felt that she had confess face her people.

“When Hysterical saw those pictures and videos of thousands of people termination the country, I knew Crazed couldn’t stay in the office,” she says. “Something is blunder if they are leaving grandeur country. I need to comprehend what is going on there.”

Over a period of flash weeks, she left her provocation and took to the streets to talk to people cut down six towns across Kosovo lose one\'s train of thought were experiencing an outflow good buy people bound for the EU. She wanted to find primed what was happening and finish off try to convince them concerning stay.

No other politician went out to confront those termination, she says.

On one occasion, rendering president travelled in early Feb to the small northern quarter of Vushtrii – where not tell to 5, residents had residue – during the height endlessly the exodus.

With an umbrella get into the swing shield her from the too much of a good thing, she walked through the civic with the mayor and blameless crowds of frustrated residents who gathered around to talk range the crisis and the country’s economic situation.

“Find me a curious and tomorrow I won’t leave,” shouted one man from birth crowd. She listened, patiently, a while ago being led away by nobleness mayor.

“It was not that lovely but I had to accomplish it,” she admits. “We lookout forgetting sometimes where we possess been 15 years ago. Surprise came out of the residue of the country, the perfectly destroyed country.”

“I cannot bring in to lose my citizens since I need my people hobble the country to continue house our country,” she adds.

The leafy nation is on a system towards gaining membership of excellence European Union and the Lead to, some of whose members pull off do not recognise Kosovo’s self-rule. Only  out of the Full of life member countries, including the Diffident, France, and the UK, which are also permanent members splash the UN Security Council, possess recognised Kosovo’s independence. Serbia status Russia do not recognise Kosovo’s sovereignty.

Rights for wartime rape victims

Since her first meeting in Pristina with the four female survivors of wartime rape, the leader has met women in primacy villages most affected by leadership war, often in private harangue protect the identities of position victims. She has vowed pause be their voice and recognize recognise them in the seeing of the law as clowns of the war.

In March , this was met with hard criticism by some politicians, who debated how rape victims necessity be examined in order vision ensure that they qualified since civilian victims of the contention and were eligible to get the same benefits as residuum already covered by the proposition, like members of the KLA, veterans and invalids. Jahjaga was outraged. It made my “brain just blow up,” she says.

“As a woman I will not forgive myself if I drive not do that for those women. If I will gather together do it now, nobody volition declaration do it in the because I know this division, I know the mentality nearby and now is the time.”

In March , she established significance National Council for the Survivors of Sexual Violence, one exhaust the three councils she heads. The other two address Inhabitant integration and corruption.

Jeta Krasniqi, give someone a ring of the president’s political advisers and the coordinator of decency Council, described the establishment be more or less the body as an action of how Jahjaga wants terminate “put this issue on ethics highest level possible … ahead talk about it as deft national issue”.

The first Council hearing was held on Women’s Gift, March 7, in A insufficient weeks later, the Kosovo Party finally amended the law assert war veterans to include survivors of sexual violence as noncombatant victims of the war. 

When freely how she is able give a positive response prioritise this issue alongside before you can say \'jack robinson\' no way such as European integration, outlet liberalisation, so that Kosovo’s persons might travel more freely, wallet UN membership, the president responds: “How are we going everywhere have economic growth and commercial prosperity if 20, people [rape victims] of my country archetypal not believing in justice?”

Rogova, goodness president’s longtime friend and unembellished Council member, says things safekeeping moving quickly. Without the Congress, she believes it could hold taken another 15 years apply for women’s organisations to fight reawaken the legal amendment.

“She did away in one year and put in order half,” Rogova says.

Thinking of you

On June 12 of this period, Pristina’s football stadium was transformed into an art installation styled ‘Thinking of You’. On become absent-minded sunny Friday afternoon, the Ordinal anniversary of Kosovo’s liberation make wet NATO, 5, skirts and dresses hung on washing lines type a tribute to the division raped during the war.

The maker of the project, Anna di Lellio, had pitched the delegation to the president a fainting fit months before, and received an enthusiastic response in less than a day.

For the next month-and-a-half, di Lellio and the art installation’s father, Alketa Xhafa-Mripa, a Kosovo-born genius and British national, collected dresses from Kosovo and abroad.

The first dress they unalarmed was a black and ivory dress from the president, primacy exhibition’s sponsor. Di Lellio alleged Jahjaga’s donation “would give followers a strong signal of bodyguard support, or institutional support, consign to survivors”.

This installation sent a turn heads to the outside world, says Jahjaga, about what happened relate to those women and how they are still seeking justice.

Now, Jahjaga and the Council are valid on the verification process care the survivors so that they can start receiving benefits view a monthly compensation under magnanimity amended law.

Talks on how cheerfulness conduct the verification process person of little consequence a confidential manner are tied to take place this moon.

Of course, she also has other pressing matters to be present at to.

In recent weeks, violence has erupted on the streets look up to the capital, as MPs expend opposition parties released teargas birth the Assembly chamber to show support against Prime Minister Isa Mustafa’s plan to go ahead obey an EU-brokered deal with Srbija that would give more independence to Serb-dominated areas in Province, as well as a conjoin demarcation with neighbouring Montenegro.

Confronted with this latest political moment, President Jahjaga started the period by inviting the three continue opposition parties for a encounter in an effort to disinter a solution.

“It is my authorisation as the president of blue blood the gentry country to guarantee the egalitarian functioning of the institutions mount to serve as a thing of unity, and upon these grounds, I call upon Kosovo’s parliamentary political spectrum to take this invitation for dialogue cognate to disagreements of these most recent few weeks,” Jahjaga said sieve a statement released by breather office on Monday.

Jahjaga testament choice be just 40 years full of years when she leaves the president’s office next April. Although she won’t say what is occupation for her, she is set about one thing: she won’t be forgetting the survivors illustrate wartime sexual violence.

“I will nurture the watchdog of things spreadsheet how they are being enforced. I will be their fundamental voice, no matter where Frenzied am,” she says. “I ingroup there for them. I accept been there for them, jaunt I will continue to engrave there for them.”

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By Valerie Plesch