Edita Tahiri
Encyclopedia
Edita Tahiri is a prominent Kosovan
politician who is the Kosovan representative during the Kosova - Serbia technical dialogue. She is a Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo
. Before taking on this role, Ms. Tahiri was the Minister of Public Administration.
Edita Tahiri’s leadership was demonstrated in the senior political and state responsibilities which she held during the hard times of Kosovo’s occupation, a period when Albanians experienced a brutal repression under Serbia. With her political philosophy of freedom, democracy and self-determination, she was committed to ensuring that genocide would never occur against her people. As well as being Minister of Foreign Affairs, she also held other positions such as: Member of the Presidency of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) from 1991–1998; Secretary for External Relations in LDK (1991–1998), Deputy of the Kosovo Assembly (1992–2000; 2001–2004), Special Envoy of President Rugova, Head of the Commission for Foreign Affairs in the Kosovo Assembly (1998–2000) and many other positions. She was the spiritual leader of the Women’s Forum in LDK and coordinator of the Presidency of LDK (1991–1998) and also was responsible for founding the Kosovo Centre for International Studies (1994).
Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri finished her post-graduate studies at Harvard University, at the John F. Kennedy School for Government in 2002 and she holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. She also graduated in the Edward S. Mason program for Public Policy and Management, 2002. During her studies at Harvard University, she was taught by the famous American professors and her tutor was the dean of the John F. Kennedy School Professor Joseph Nye. For her academic achievements, she was awarded the title “Outstanding student of 2002” by the John Kennedy School of Government Public Service Fellowship and an “Edward S. Mason Appreciation for an Extraordinary Contribution.” She is a doctoral candidate, and her thesis addresses “the impact of uncertain sovereignty on international state-building” with a special focus on Kosovo. In the years, 2006/2007 she studied on a Fulbright Scholarship at the Johns Hopkins- SAIS university where she did doctoral studies in the Program for Conflict Resolution, under the supervision of the well known American Professor I. William Zartman.
As Foreign Minister of an occupied and unknown country like Kosovo, Edita Tahiri over ten years of hard work managed to make the Kosovo question and the unresolved Albanian question well-known amongst senior world circles and to secure the support of the international community for the right to self-determination and Kosovo’s independence. In meetings with senior officials and statesmen, including the American Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, NATO Chief, General Wesley Clark, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine and many other international personalities, she was very successful in presenting the national cause to world diplomats.
Edita Tahiri is a distinguished negotiator and participated in all phases of negotiations up to NATO intervention in 1999, including the Rambouillet Conference (1999), the London Conference (1992), and pre Rambouillet negotiations 1998, as part of the G15 and G5 negotiation teams. Educated and trained for negotiations in world class universities and being a protagonist of the complicated processes of the dissolution of Yugoslavia, her expertise is a valuable resource for the resolution of conflicts. In addition, she is well informed about the field of security and has a diploma from the College of International and Security Studies, at the George Marshall Centre in Germany, 2003.
She has participated in many world conferences, including the Fourth World Women’s Conference in Peking 1995; the World Food Summit in Rome 1996; the World Habitat Conference in Istanbul 1996; the First World Conference on Globalisation in Santiago de Compostella, in Spain, 1997; sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 1996, 1997 and 1998; the NATO Parliamentary Assembly 1998; OSCE Ambassadors meeting in Vienna 1998; the Lansdowne Conference 1999; the Airlie Conference 2000 and 2002; the International Conference on the Transfer of Peoples, Tallinn, Estonia, January 1992, etc.
After the end of the war in Kosovo, she was distinguished as a reformer, trying to achieve democratic change in Kosovo, and unable to realise democratic reform within the Democratic League of Kosovo, she left to create with other like-minded colleagues a reform party, the Kosovo Democratic Alternative (ADK) in May 2004.
Edita Tahiri has been the head of the Kosovo Democratic Alternative (ADK) since its founding. In the general election of 2007, ADK became a parliamentary party and is in coalition with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).
She has been continually and particularly committed to empowering women as part of her political activity. She is the leader of the Regional Women’s Lobby (RWLSEE) which she and other female political leaders in the region formed in 2006.
Her academic profile is based on studies of political and technical sciences at the most prestigious universities in the world. Before engaging in politics and political science, she studied telecommunications and electronics. In 1980 she graduated from the University of Prishtina as an electrical and telecommunications engineer. In 1983 she did post-graduate studies in digital telecommunications at Essex University in Great Britain. She lectured in this subject and is the author of the book, “Electronics.”
She writes about political issues, international relations and especially about Kosovo and the Balkans region. Some of her publications are: “Rambouillet Conference: Negotiation process and documents”, Dukagjini, Peja, 2001; “Kosovo and Albanians outside Albania”, Aspen Institute, Berlin, 1997; “Kosova: National Report”, presented at the world women’s conference in Peking, 1995; “Kosova: A hungry future”, presented at the World Food Summit in Rome 1997; Kosovo’s independence: Factor of Stability for South Eastern Europe, Albanians in the Balkans, Albanian Institute for International Studies, Tirana, 2001; Kosovo’s independence – contribution to regional stability, National Defence Academy, Vienna, 2002 as well as a number of other articles and essays.
For her professional work she has received many appreciations, awards, titles and international honorary memberships, including being an honorary member of the town of Little Rock, USA (1993), honorary Commissioner of Tennessee District Council, USA (1993), Member of the International Consortium of the Defence Academy and Institute for Security Studies, 2001, Member of the Political Commission, Transatlantic Institute, Brussels, 2005. She was the co-founder and member of the executive board of the Organisation of Nations and Unrepresented Peoples with its headquarters at The Hague, (1992). Currently she is a lecturer at the Department of Political Science, in the field of foreign policy and diplomacy. In addition, she lectures at world universities. She has participated in and given speeches at many international conferences and has given many interviews to world media, including CNN, BBC, Euro news, etc.
, Turkish
, Serbian
, and Croatian
as well as her native Albanian
. She was born on 29 July 1956 in Prizren. She lives and works in Pristina, Kosovo
.
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
politician who is the Kosovan representative during the Kosova - Serbia technical dialogue. She is a Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo
Republic of Kosovo
Kosovo , officially the Republic of Kosovo is a partially recognised state and a disputed territory in the Balkans...
. Before taking on this role, Ms. Tahiri was the Minister of Public Administration.
Career
Edita Tahiri has a distinguished political career as a leader, politician, diplomat and negotiator with an international reputation. She is one of the main protagonists in the political changes affecting Kosovo and South Eastern Europe, after the end of the Cold War. She was one of the founders and key leaders of the movement for Kosovo’s independence, the Democratic League of Kosovo, in the years 1991-1999. She is particularly well known in foreign policy and for her great contribution to internationalising the Kosovo question and Albanian question as Kosovo’s Foreign Minister (1991–2000). She participated in the Kosovo delegation at the Rambouillet Conference (1999) where she gave an extraordinary contribution to achieving the Rambouillet Agreement, which led to NATO intervention in Kosovo in 1999 and opened up the path to Kosovo’s independence.Edita Tahiri’s leadership was demonstrated in the senior political and state responsibilities which she held during the hard times of Kosovo’s occupation, a period when Albanians experienced a brutal repression under Serbia. With her political philosophy of freedom, democracy and self-determination, she was committed to ensuring that genocide would never occur against her people. As well as being Minister of Foreign Affairs, she also held other positions such as: Member of the Presidency of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) from 1991–1998; Secretary for External Relations in LDK (1991–1998), Deputy of the Kosovo Assembly (1992–2000; 2001–2004), Special Envoy of President Rugova, Head of the Commission for Foreign Affairs in the Kosovo Assembly (1998–2000) and many other positions. She was the spiritual leader of the Women’s Forum in LDK and coordinator of the Presidency of LDK (1991–1998) and also was responsible for founding the Kosovo Centre for International Studies (1994).
Deputy Prime Minister Edita Tahiri finished her post-graduate studies at Harvard University, at the John F. Kennedy School for Government in 2002 and she holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration. She also graduated in the Edward S. Mason program for Public Policy and Management, 2002. During her studies at Harvard University, she was taught by the famous American professors and her tutor was the dean of the John F. Kennedy School Professor Joseph Nye. For her academic achievements, she was awarded the title “Outstanding student of 2002” by the John Kennedy School of Government Public Service Fellowship and an “Edward S. Mason Appreciation for an Extraordinary Contribution.” She is a doctoral candidate, and her thesis addresses “the impact of uncertain sovereignty on international state-building” with a special focus on Kosovo. In the years, 2006/2007 she studied on a Fulbright Scholarship at the Johns Hopkins- SAIS university where she did doctoral studies in the Program for Conflict Resolution, under the supervision of the well known American Professor I. William Zartman.
As Foreign Minister of an occupied and unknown country like Kosovo, Edita Tahiri over ten years of hard work managed to make the Kosovo question and the unresolved Albanian question well-known amongst senior world circles and to secure the support of the international community for the right to self-determination and Kosovo’s independence. In meetings with senior officials and statesmen, including the American Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, NATO Chief, General Wesley Clark, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine and many other international personalities, she was very successful in presenting the national cause to world diplomats.
Edita Tahiri is a distinguished negotiator and participated in all phases of negotiations up to NATO intervention in 1999, including the Rambouillet Conference (1999), the London Conference (1992), and pre Rambouillet negotiations 1998, as part of the G15 and G5 negotiation teams. Educated and trained for negotiations in world class universities and being a protagonist of the complicated processes of the dissolution of Yugoslavia, her expertise is a valuable resource for the resolution of conflicts. In addition, she is well informed about the field of security and has a diploma from the College of International and Security Studies, at the George Marshall Centre in Germany, 2003.
She has participated in many world conferences, including the Fourth World Women’s Conference in Peking 1995; the World Food Summit in Rome 1996; the World Habitat Conference in Istanbul 1996; the First World Conference on Globalisation in Santiago de Compostella, in Spain, 1997; sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe 1996, 1997 and 1998; the NATO Parliamentary Assembly 1998; OSCE Ambassadors meeting in Vienna 1998; the Lansdowne Conference 1999; the Airlie Conference 2000 and 2002; the International Conference on the Transfer of Peoples, Tallinn, Estonia, January 1992, etc.
After the end of the war in Kosovo, she was distinguished as a reformer, trying to achieve democratic change in Kosovo, and unable to realise democratic reform within the Democratic League of Kosovo, she left to create with other like-minded colleagues a reform party, the Kosovo Democratic Alternative (ADK) in May 2004.
Edita Tahiri has been the head of the Kosovo Democratic Alternative (ADK) since its founding. In the general election of 2007, ADK became a parliamentary party and is in coalition with the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK).
She has been continually and particularly committed to empowering women as part of her political activity. She is the leader of the Regional Women’s Lobby (RWLSEE) which she and other female political leaders in the region formed in 2006.
Her academic profile is based on studies of political and technical sciences at the most prestigious universities in the world. Before engaging in politics and political science, she studied telecommunications and electronics. In 1980 she graduated from the University of Prishtina as an electrical and telecommunications engineer. In 1983 she did post-graduate studies in digital telecommunications at Essex University in Great Britain. She lectured in this subject and is the author of the book, “Electronics.”
She writes about political issues, international relations and especially about Kosovo and the Balkans region. Some of her publications are: “Rambouillet Conference: Negotiation process and documents”, Dukagjini, Peja, 2001; “Kosovo and Albanians outside Albania”, Aspen Institute, Berlin, 1997; “Kosova: National Report”, presented at the world women’s conference in Peking, 1995; “Kosova: A hungry future”, presented at the World Food Summit in Rome 1997; Kosovo’s independence: Factor of Stability for South Eastern Europe, Albanians in the Balkans, Albanian Institute for International Studies, Tirana, 2001; Kosovo’s independence – contribution to regional stability, National Defence Academy, Vienna, 2002 as well as a number of other articles and essays.
For her professional work she has received many appreciations, awards, titles and international honorary memberships, including being an honorary member of the town of Little Rock, USA (1993), honorary Commissioner of Tennessee District Council, USA (1993), Member of the International Consortium of the Defence Academy and Institute for Security Studies, 2001, Member of the Political Commission, Transatlantic Institute, Brussels, 2005. She was the co-founder and member of the executive board of the Organisation of Nations and Unrepresented Peoples with its headquarters at The Hague, (1992). Currently she is a lecturer at the Department of Political Science, in the field of foreign policy and diplomacy. In addition, she lectures at world universities. She has participated in and given speeches at many international conferences and has given many interviews to world media, including CNN, BBC, Euro news, etc.
Personal life
She speaks the following languages: EnglishEnglish language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, Turkish
Turkish language
Turkish is a language spoken as a native language by over 83 million people worldwide, making it the most commonly spoken of the Turkic languages. Its speakers are located predominantly in Turkey and Northern Cyprus with smaller groups in Iraq, Greece, Bulgaria, the Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo,...
, Serbian
Serbian language
Serbian is a form of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language, spoken by Serbs in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Croatia and neighbouring countries....
, and Croatian
Croatian language
Croatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
as well as her native Albanian
Albanian language
Albanian is an Indo-European language spoken by approximately 7.6 million people, primarily in Albania and Kosovo but also in other areas of the Balkans in which there is an Albanian population, including western Macedonia, southern Montenegro, southern Serbia and northwestern Greece...
. She was born on 29 July 1956 in Prizren. She lives and works in Pristina, Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
.