Nine years ago Hashim Thaci was elected president of Kosovo

He won 71 votes in the third round, as in the first two rounds he failed to secure two-thirds of the deputies' votes.

Hashim Thaci took office in the president on April 7th 2016, following the solemn oath at the Kosovo Assembly.

Before becoming president, Thaci had served as the first deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister (2014-2015), as well as Kosovo's prime minister in two terms (2007-2014).

Thaci was the first president of the Democratic Party of Kosovo and was repeatedly re-elected party chairman, until his resignation on February 26, 2016, before being voted for president of Kosovo.

Hashim Thaci declared Kosovo an independent state on February 17th 2008, led the Kosovo team in the Ramboje talks in February 1999 and was political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army during the 19971999 war years. Thaci was the most voted political leader in the June 8, 2014, elections. As Kosovo prime minister, he led political dialogue between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia, which on April 19th 2013 resulted in the signing of the agreement for normalising relations between Kosovo and Serbia.

For his commitment to peace and stability, in 2014, Hashim Thaci was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by American congressers and senators, as well as representatives of the European Parliament.

Hashim Thaci's political career began with his commitment to the Kosovo People's Movement (LPK), aimed at emancipating the position of Albanians in the former Yugoslavia. As a student at the University of Pristina, Thaci became the leader of the Student Movement during the 1990-1993 period, years when Belgrade's power closed the university educational institutions in Albanian, and the University of Pristina began operating outside the institutional system.

In 1991, Thaci was elected a prorector-student of the University of Pristina, where he contributed to the structure and development of the parallel university learning process.

Hashim Thaci was one of the founders of the political-military organisation, the Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK). From 1997, Thaci was the leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army Political Directorate and headed the Kosovo delegation at the International Conference held in Ramboullete, France, from February 6th to February 22nd 1999. After the war, Thaci was prime minister of the Kosovo Interim Government from 1999 to 2000.

He has also been a member of the Acting Administrative Council (KPA), a joint governing structure of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the Kosovo political class, until 2001, when the first parliamentary elections were held in post-war Kosovo.

In October 1999, Hashim Thaci was one of the founders of the Party of Democratic Progress of Kosovo (PPDK). After changing the name to the Democratic Party of Kosovo, he was elected chairman in 2000, a post he held until February 26, 2016. Thaci was a member of the Unity Team that represented Kosovo in the negotiating process led by the UN Special Emissar President Martti Ahtisaari for Kosovo's political status during the period 2005-2007.

After winning the Democratic Party of Kosovo in the November 17th 2007 parliamentary elections, Hashim Thaci was elected prime minister of the Kosovo government. On February 17th 2008, as prime minister, he declared Kosovo an independent state. Thaci was the first prime minister of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo. He resigned from the presidential post to start immediately towards The Hague because of the indictment filed by the Special Court. At his latest conference as president, Thaci said he would not allow him to appear as Kosovo president at the dock of indictees before the Special Court.