Kosovo’s new president took office on Tuesday, becoming the country’s youngest head of state and one of the youngest in the world, and one of the few female presidents in the world.
Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, 38, was elected to a five-year term on Sunday by Kosovo’s Assembly, or Parliament, making her the Balkan nation’s second female leader in the post-war period.
Osmani-Sadriu took office Tuesday in a ceremony with a guard of honor. Acting President Glauk Konjufca handed over the country’s constitution, avoiding a more formal ceremony due to the pandemic.
Osmani-Sadriu was formerly acting president from November until late March. She replaced Hashim Thaci, who resigned after facing charges for war crimes and crimes against humanity at a special court based in The Hague. Thaci was a guerrilla leader during Kosovo’s war for independence from Serbia in the late 1990s.
The post of Kosovo’s president is largely ceremonial, but she also plays a leading role in foreign policy and as the commander of the armed forces.
Resuming normalization talks with former war foe Serbia will be a priority on her list, even though the government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said it’s not high among its own goals.
Kosovo became independent in 2008. It is recognized by more than 100 countries but not by Serbia or Serbian allies like Russia and China.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE EX PRESIDENT?
Kosovo’s former president Hashim Thaci appeared before a war crimes court in The Hague, in a stunning downfall for the one-time guerilla liberation hero from the 1990s conflict with Serbia.
Thaci, 52, resigned as president and flew to the Netherlands where he was placed in the detention centre of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC), a court located in The Hague.
The 52-year-old was charged along with three others with war crimes and crimes against humanity including murder and torture during an alleged campaign by the ethnic Albanian Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) between 1998 and 1999 against civilians it deemed to be its enemies.
The defendants allegedly carried out “a widespread or systematic attack against the civilian population”, including those believed to be collaborating with Serb forces, or not cooperating with the KLA.
