Prime Minister Rama, who was in Pristina on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the liberation of Kosovo, participated in the International Conference “Rugova and the West”, dedicated to this anniversary, – which is held in honor of the political legacy of the former President, the symbol of the Kosovo Albanians, Ibrahim Rugova, – as well as the allied countries, which had an essential role during the war in Kosovo. The Prime Minister addressed one of the panels of the Conference, entitled “The house cannot survive without friends”, together with international personalities well-known for their political contribution during the war period and beyond, among them the former Italian Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema, the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life Vincenzo Paglia, and the US Ambassador to Kosovo Jeffrey Hovenier.

“Rugova’s leadership during that period had a very rare ability to connect the fate of his unknown country with the fate of the democratic world, to integrate the existential concern of an oppressed province of the former Yugoslavia, into global geopolitics, working with wisdom and turning into capital every wrong step of rivals and enemies, as well as giving Kosovo the only possible natural asset, its international friends.” – said Prime Minister Rama, among other things.

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Prime Minister Edi Rama: Dear Mrs. Rugova,

Dear family members of President Rugova,

Dear Lumir,

Dear prime minister D’Alema,

Dear Monsignor Paglia,

And if you allow me, my dear old friend, Lutfi Haziri,

Dear friends, I thank you for the invitation and welcome the opportunity to share with you an opinion on the man who has marked the history of Albanians with a trace as rare as it was necessary, an unparalleled synthesis between the revolutionary and the wisdom of a citizen and statesmen with the idealism of the revolutionary.

Ibrahim Rugova, the founding father of the free, independent and democratic Kosovo, was an Albanian who emerged from the mountain ridges of our history, an intellectual who emerged from the collection of portraits of the romantic period, a leader as if he was created to be unable to fit into any conventional frame, a figure that even today is very difficult to summarize as a whole without compromising the harmony between the parts.
He was and remains the most atypical of Albanian politicians, unrepeatable, inimitable, inexplicable with the way he managed to impose on people the path of flowing water that seems to stay in place as it forms a bed of its own.

“Ibrahim Rugova, president without a palace and without a nation, warrior of ideas, warrior of peace, a persistent and lonely man who sent his people to a future that would only be good, where history passed close to him” – writes Ismail Kadare. Where on May 24, 1992, in the so-called election, he declared himself President of Kosovo for the first time, he had the courage of a genius for the fact that he did not risk his life, but risked something even more important, what life creates and leaves behind, the name and personality. It was a quixotic act in the eyes of many; for me, very similar to the act of the solitary appearance of General de Gaulle, when alone and ridiculed he broadcast the epochal message on the radio from London on June 6, 1944. “After such a heavy cloud of our blood and tears, here the sun of our majesty appears “.

Like de Gaulle, some mocked Ibrahim Rugova, many ignored him, almost everyone underestimated him, some out loud and some under his breath, and others followed him with a kind of pity, which is the pity of someone who in despair gives a chance to what seems quite impossible, but I do not believe that anyone in those beginnings really understood what, maybe even he himself, did not see as a path with a safe exit, no, but he took it as a step in the dark, driven by the inability to stand still.

“I cannot deal with literature when I see that my people are dying on the streets”, – writes Ibrahim Rugova. “An elected president without a palace and without a nation”, – as Kadare says, a man who amidst the chaos that surrounded him gave his people an unknown and never used force, at least in this part of the world we live in, the persistent force of water that erodes stone without haste, without crash, without noise, sitting like Gandhi in the face of time with a blind faith in alliance and making an impossible bet of patience in a social environment like that of the Albanians, where you know better than I, patience is a rare commodity, but when in those times, it was also synonymous with submission.

The president of hope in the midst of the suppression of all hope had lived until then among books and the temptation of literary criticism in extremely difficult circumstances for Kosovo, where the passion of research for knowledge and for the written word became the terrain where the responsibility of the intellectual spokesman was developed, and precisely in that ongoing development, he turned the aesthetic refusal, to quote the title of one of his works written in 1987, into a political refusal, which sometimes took the form of a sermon in the desert, sometimes took the form of prophecy in an imaginary horizon of hope, sometimes it was a call of conscience to the world for the rights of Kosovo, sometimes it was heard as a call for wisdom in the ears of the opinion in Kosovo.

“Our war is peaceful, not violent. It is dignified” declared Rugova, with a disarming stubbornness of a completely unusual leader for the Balkans, turned once again into a powder keg in the middle of Europe, at a time when, you know much better than anyone else, very few eyes turned to Kosovo could read its pain. As this neighborhood of Europe drowned under the cloud of blood and tears, being torn apart from all four sides by the violence of ethnic conflicts, the approach of the peaceful leader of Kosovo, eroded with the calmness of the water the stone of the conscience of the great powers and thanks to the almost extravagant profile of his peaceful leadership, but also of the special charm of his personality, the truth of the violated people of Kosovo began little by little to stand out like a precious stone in a mire of historical injustice.

Ibrahim Rugova’s low voice began to resound from the depths of a deadly well, where the ideological creature of Yugoslavia was drowning, and his cleverly gentle, but persistently dignified approach in the face of a brutal enemy, in a savagely ruthless time, his unwavering faith on reason turned Ibrahim Rugova into a half-warrior, half-prophetic figure, sometimes with the armor of stubbornness, sometimes with the cross of humility, sometimes a hero who appeared, sometimes a monk who disappeared.

In the 90s, while Kosovo was facing one of its most tragic chapters, he founded the Democratic League of Kosovo and sat in the seat of reason, inside a cinema of hatred. A president without a palace and without a nation, who thanks only to his personality and nothing else, was received in the White House, received in 10 Downing Street in London, received in the Quirinale in Rome, received in audience with Pope John Paul in the Vatican, widened its ground like a stream, international attention to the issue of Kosovo and nurturing unshakable faith in a peaceful solution without ever falling prey to the temptation to rush and never return to Kosovo, which actually represented the pain of a people, but did not represent any kind of state, any other kind of institution, while his head, which he held high when he spoke to them, was sitting here in Kosovo and his language preached only patience.

Rugova’s leadership during that period had a very rare ability to connect the fate of his unknown country with the fate of the democratic world, to integrate the existential concern of an oppressed province of the former Yugoslavia into global geopolitics, working with the tool of wisdom and turning into capital every wrong step of rivals and enemies, as well as giving Kosovo the only possible natural wealth, its international friends.
On December 16, 1998, at the headquarters of the European Parliament, Rugova was awarded the “Sakharov” prize for human rights and freedom of thought and left in the book of speeches of that hall an address that today, after 26 years, is still relevant.

“I would like to emphasize that the best solution for Kosovo is independence, of course, with all the guarantees for the Serbs living in Kosovo. The independence of Kosovo will allow the return of peace and stability in this part of Europe, starting with Albania, Macedonia and even with Serbia. Kosovo’s independence will constitute a stabilizing factor in the region. I hope and wish that one day Kosovo will have a place in this honorable institution of the European Parliament, – as my dear teacher Roland Bart said, “politics begins with desire and then that desire turns into action.” This is how the founding father of the free, independent and democratic Kosovo spoke, convinced that in the arena of the great political game, the knights of ideals must descend to the land of strategic calculations. That external allies and arbitrators are as important as internal political will, that dogmatism and provincial leadership sooner or later turn into a very costly punishment for people led by the reason of passion and not by the passion for reason.

“We stand for a peaceful solution to the problem of Kosovo” – he said and underlined, “in full cooperation with international friends and respecting international laws”.
Not only did he not make mistakes, but in his experience that he created through these addresses, he also left a legacy for future generations, and precisely from the erosive persistence of the stream that flowed wisely, it became possible to open the ground where the Kosovo Liberation Army came to life.

Today it is clearer than ever that without Ibrahim Rugova there would not have been no Kosovo Liberation Army, because without the war that he started in peace, the peace won by war would never have been achieved, than without the great friends that Ibrahim Rugova made for Kosovo, the KLA rifles would not be able to echo over Belgrade through the NATO bombs. With the words “the only compromise for Kosovo is independence and this is the optimum of all Albanians in the region” and with his peace strategy to win the war, Ibrahim Rugova proved that firstly, loyalty to principles suffocates without foresight, and secondly; complete peace needs something more essential than the victory of war by arms, it needs looking at the past with the eyes of the future and not looking at the future with the eyes of the past.

The situation today can make one frustrated, that after so many years it seems as if Ibrahim Rugova remains the only one in this country who knew that having complete peace does not mean simply achieving the absence of conflict, but establishing a long-term justice within and across borders. But Rugova understood – and his whole path radiates this – also a truth that many today swallow with difficulty or refuse to swallow at all, the truth that in order to achieve long-term justice, no nation is self-sufficient, the persuasion of those who follow us fanatically is not worth a penny if we fail to convince the opponent as well.

True leadership in the search for complete peace is measured not by the ability to build stone by stone, but by the skill to build meter by meter the towers of cooperation. Ibrahim Rugova’s teaching is exceptional. It is a great lesson for all of us because it reminds us that no matter how big and how much we are supported by our people, we remain a small nation in two small states that, as you say in Kosovo: “we cannot cry without friends and allies”.

Rugova’s influence was not limited to political achievements, he was a cultural icon who supported the preservation and promotion of the rich heritage. All his close friends with whom I have had the opportunity to talk, but also from meeting him in his home, it is very clear that he had an unconditional adoration for Albania and he knew the Albanians well, their suffering and their pride, such as empathy and loyalty. And even in the most difficult moments for Kosovo, he insisted that Albania be taken into account, understanding like no one else that the political differences between the two states are one thing and the common destinies of a nation are another thing. Since he came from the grounds of culture, he was a reader of the soul of the nation who understood from the inside that the soul of the nation rests on the culture, on the language, on its own traditions, but this is what he says, even in the combination and in the meeting points with other cultures, which gave his vision for a multi-ethnic and democratic Kosovo, a completely progressive and surprising dimension for the time and at the same time a European dimension that today even in Europe seems to have become scarce.

He was convinced that intercultural dialogue served the common foundation of a society built not on the grievances of the past, but on the projects of the future. He said, “we are Europeans, we believe in God and Western democracy” and thus invited the new generations to think and act as future citizens of a continent that is increasingly integrated through the values of democracy and not the hostages of a curse that renews itself by drinking the poison of past divisions.

He knew very well that after blood loss comes peace and there is no way it could happen otherwise, but his greatness lies in the fact that he did not see complete peace as the humiliation of the defeated, but as the blessing of the newborn. His close friends have told me that during his illness he had only one regret in the face of approaching death, which he did not see as a problem at all, in the sense that he felt like a man contributing to humanity, but at the same time he felt regret because “they didn’t point the trigger outside”, – he said about the full recognition of Kosovo’s independence.

That point has already gone out, it has gone out irreversibly, but the challenge of building complete Rugovian peace remains an open challenge, even more so in a new geopolitical context for all of Europe.
Today, the peoples of the Balkans have a moment of historical opportunity in a context of historical danger. The chance to advance a project of dialogue and orientation towards the future, each heavy stone in its own place and at this point Kosovo is a heavy stone in its own place, which no one can move, but it is also a heavy stone that should take its place among all the stones of the international community, fully shaping the subjectivity of the international self, or then we enter the path that leads backwards, the consequences of which are very known.

In order to realize this mission, we will bring Europe to the Balkans, much earlier than we bring the Balkans to Europe, and for this there is no more inspiring source than the current Albanian situation after the fall of the dictatorship and after the dissolution of Yugoslavia and the independence of Kosovo, how much the work and life of Ibrahim Rugova. Ibrahim Rugova is a historical leader, both of that world and of the new world that we want to have here in this part of Europe, but also a model citizen of a common continent, a symbol of a non-haughty pride, of a wisdom of non-demagogic activism, self-confidence as tolerance towards people and hope that nurtures understanding. And as we remember today the bitter sacrifices, but also the colossal achievements of a Kosovo which, without the dedication, endurance and strength of Ibrahim Rugova’s example, might not exist today, the best way to honor his legacy is to pledge to strengthen the necessary bridges that connect us.
– How does Kosovo look today in your eyes? I know you’re concise, so I’m asking the question like that.

Prime Minister Edi Rama: This is not a question; this is a trap! I just want to add something since the panel discussion is more like a conversation, but I want to stick to Ibrahim Rugova.
The most successful time of Kosovo in international relations, as a subject although not yet recognized by many states, as an independent state, but as a subject at the table, was the time of the so-called unity team. And Ibrahim Rugova, looking at him with today’s eyes, – because I said before that he is a figure that the more time passes, the more he becomes unattainable, – did not use his international personality, the fact that he was the man, to whom doors were opened as a person, even when those who were waiting for him heard him for the first time, perhaps to make internal politics with foreign policy.

On the contrary, in a very modest way he sat as a member of a unity team where everyone was equal, and that was the time when Kosovo achieved its diplomatic success and managed to beat Serbia at the table.
Today, we are in a process which deepens in an ever more disturbing form, the approach to foreign policy as domestic policy and the use of communication platforms abroad as tribunes to get votes here. This, of course, can have electoral success, but this leaves Kosovo with less and less confidence from its international friends and allies, and in my view, – since we are talking about Ibrahim Rugova today, – if Kosovo were to leave this “cat and mouse” game at the table with Serbia and with a unity team would address the European Union saying “we don’t want to talk with Serbia anymore because we have nothing to talk about, we are here to talk with the European Union, to fulfill all the obligations we have as the Republic of Kosovo in the context of international standards and European Union standards and to get closer to you. Then, what Serbia does is Serbia’s business, go and deal with Serbia”, and this “cat and mouse” confrontation at the table, these meetings to be closed for hours, only to come out after the meeting to say that how strongly I stood by the other, in a two-way understanding, these lead nowhere and I do not understand and will never understand what the future of Kosovo has to do with every obligation that Kosovo has, not in in relation to Serbia, but in relation to itself, in relation to the standards of a country that wants to join NATO, wants to join the European Union with what it does and what it doesn’t do, and what Serbia likes and what it doesn’t like.

Serbia may never want to approach the idea that it should recognize Kosovo, but that should not prevent Kosovo from progressing to the point where everyone accepts and recognizes it as a model state that meets all the standards to stay together with others in the community of states and I am convinced that this thing is not a fantasy, this thing is achievable, I am convinced that this would get Kosovo out of the trap into which Serbia has put it with its constant provocations but also where in some way it was introduced due to the use of foreign policy as domestic policy. I said it before, we are a small nation anyway, we have two small states anyway, we are not the navel of the world and every time we thought we were the navel of the world, we suffered very badly and every time we realized that we must be like “the brave one with many friends” and that we must return the investment of Ibrahim Rugova and the investment of many others, not only Albanians, but also our international friends in a capital for the future, so many times we have succeeded to do the right thing. So in this sense, to answer the question of how I see Kosovo today, Kosovo is very beautiful, Kosovo has all the possibilities and Kosovo does not have to waste time running around.

It has all that it needs, it has all the partners, allies, friends it needs, it has all its sufficient resources, it has talents, it has people, it has energy, it has strength, it has everything; simply and only Kosovo must – we have an expression in Albania, I don’t know if you have it here, when they say “he must show the license plate”, that is, when the car drives away, because there is a lot of talk about license plates, – he must show the license plate to Serbia and run away and Serbia can then do whatever it wants because in the end the fate of Kosovo cannot be kept due to the interests or the impotence of Serbia to face its past.
But a democratic, vibrant, peaceful reality, a reality that corresponds to the vision of Ibrahim Rugova in the everyday life of Kosovo, will have all the positive energy to make it impossible in the future, to be taken hostage by Serbia, while Kosovo has won the war and that complete peace can be achieved, not with the means of war and Facebook, but with European democratic means.