Who is Vjosa Osmani, new president of so-called Kosovo? She's known for her anti-Serb rhetoric

Vjosa Osmani / Photo: Tanjug/AP

The newly elected president of the provisional institutions in Pristina, Vjosa Osmani, got involved in politics as a teenager as an activist of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).

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The first significant position held by Osmani (39), who has recently stood out with her anti-Serb rhetoric, came in 2009 when she was appointed as chief of staff of then president of the provisional institutions in Pristina Fatmir Sejdiu, writes Tanjug.

She took over as acting president of the provisional institutions in Pristina on November 5, 2020, while serving as president of the parliament, in accordance with the constitution of so-called Kosovo, after president and one of the commanders of the former KLA, Hashim Thaci, submitted his irrevocable resignation from that position.

Thaci resigned after The Hague-based Specialist chambers for the KLA indicted him for war crimes committed against Serbs, other non-Albanians, and political opponents during the Kosovo conflict.

It was during this period that Osmani left the LDK and joined the Self-Determination Movement, led by newly elected Prime Minister Albin Kurti, after which her anti-Serb rhetoric became more articulate.

In a recent interview with the BBC, speaking about the Specialist Chambers for KLA crimes, she said that justice cannot be served "until Serb crimes are solved."

"The whole world has seen the crimes committed by Serbia," said Osmani and added that justice will be served "only when Serbia repents and apologizes" and ensures that those who committed crimes are brought to justice.

In the said interview for the British broadcaster, Osmani refused to answer whether, if she had the opportunity, she would pardon former President Thaci, who is on trial in The Hague.

According to her biography, Osmani, in addition to Albanian, also speaks Spanish, Turkish, English and Serbian.

She was born in 1982 in Kosovska Mitrovica, where she graduated from elementary and high school.

She graduated in law from the University of Pristina, where she was later a professor of international law, and has also taught as professor in the United States.

In 2004, she received a scholarship to complete her master's degree at the University of Pittsburgh, and in 2009, thanks to her success, she again won a full scholarship for doctoral studies at the same school.

As a student at the Faculty of Pristina, she worked for the United Nations Mission in Kosovo - UNMIK.

Later, she cooperated with numerous international organizations, the Red Cross, the Council of Europe's Mission in Kosovo, and the US organization for assistance USAID.

She is married with two children.

(Telegraf.rs)