President's Day: Who was Rugova?

But who was Ibrahim Rugova the first president of Kosovo?

Ibrahim Rugova was and still is a very important political figure in Kosovo, serving as Kosovo president and chairman of the Democratic League of Kosovo.

Rugova was known during the years dealt with as an accessory to peaceful resistance to Yugoslavia, constantly lobbiing for support of the US and European countries. Because of his role in Kosovo's history, he has been named as “the nation's father” but also “The Balkan League” and has won the Sacharov Prize for Freedom of Thought.

However, it is a figure still opposed by the Vetevendosje Movement and other political groupings.

Abraham was born on December 2, 1944, into a family of the Celtic tribe of Albania. He was born at the time that Kosovo was united with Albania. Rugova's father and grandfather were executed in January 1945 by Yugoslav Communists.

Rugova has repeatedly stressed Kosovo's heritage from ancient Dardania in order to strengthen European identity and promote policies close to the EU. He studied literature at the University of Pristina and Paris. He was a student of the renowned French professor, Roland Barthes. As a student, he had also participated in the 1968 protests.

Over the years, Rugova had worked as a journalist, as editor of the New World Student newspaper, and in Dituria magazine. During that period, he had joined the Yugoslav Communist Party in advancing to a career. In 1988, he was elected chairman of the Union of Kosovo Writers after publishing a series of works for literary criticism.

As president, Rugova continued to support Kosovo's peaceful path towards independence and had been strongly opposed to the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Admittedly, Ibrahim Rugova had taken the lead in the Democratic League of Kosovo, only after the first candidate, Rexhep Qosja, had refused that task. The LDK had become a nationwide movement and managed to build a social parallel system to provide health and education services for Kosovo Albanians.

Yugoslav and Serbian governments had been studying many LDK activists and had said the shadowed government was illegal organisation.

Rugova, during the 90s, had refused any form of negotiations with Serbian authorities.

As for his private life, there are rumors that he has converted into Catholicism. These rumors have never been confirmed by his family or by any reliable source. Sabri Hamiti, a close associate of his, had said Rugova in terms of religion, had been “a sybolic Muslim”. On the other hand, Don Shan Zefi in an interview for a television camera said he did not know whether Rugova had converted to Catholic, and there was no evidence that he was baptized. /Periscopi