38-Year-Old Vjosa Osmani Is Kosovo’s New President +Here Are 15 Facts To Know About Her
- Anu
- April 9, 2021
- News
- vjosa osmani, vjosa osmani biography, vjosa osmani kosovo new president, vjosa osmani profile
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There has been an increase in the election of female presidents the world over in a clamour for gender equality.
A clear example is that of Vjosa Osmani who was recently elected by the country’s parliament as the new President of Kosovo with the backing of Prime Minister Albin Kurti and his Vetevendosje (Self-Determination) party.
She won 71 of the votes from the 82 lawmakers present in the 120-seat parliament.
While the president’s duties are largely ceremonial, Osmani will now be the commander of the country’s armed forces and also serve as one of the country’s top diplomatic representatives.
Kosovo, officially known as the Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared its independence from Serbia on February 17, 2008.
Here are some facts to know about her.
1. Vjosa Osmani was born on 17 May 1982 in Mitrovica, then a part of SFR Yugoslavia.
2. She has four siblings and completed her primary and secondary education in her hometown.
3. She has clear memories as a teenager during the Kosovo War of a soldier forcing an AK-47 rifle into her mouth after her home in Mitrovica had been raided.
4. Osmani has a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Prishtina in Kosovo. She also has a master’s degree in law from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (Pitt Law)in 2005 and a doctorate in juridical science in 2015.
5. She has been a teaching assistant at the University of Pristina, a lecturer at RIT Kosovo, and a visiting professor at the University of Pittsburgh in her academic career.
6. Osmani speaks Albanian, English, Serbian, Spanish, and Turkish.
7. She began her political career in her teens, as an activist for the center-right Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK).
8. On 27 August 2009, she was elected chief of staff for then-president Fatmir Sejdiu. Osmani had also served as legal counsel and foreign policy advisor to the president.
9. She was a member of the Assembly of Kosovo for three terms, and once received the largest number of votes for a female politician in Kosovan parliamentary history.
10. She contributed to the Independence of Kosovo and also represented the country in a case at the International Court of Justice, where she defended the legality of Kosovo’s independence.
11. Osmani was viewed as a possible prime minister of Kosovo by the LDK in the 2019 snap parliamentary election but lost the election to Albin Kurti.
12. She was removed as her party’s deputy leader on June 20, 2020, after the LDK leader, Mustafa called for her dismissal. Osmani later quit the LDK altogether on 7 September 2020.
13. In 2020, she was appointed acting president of Kosovo after President Thaçi vacated the post in November after being charged with war crimes.
14. Osmani was subsequently sworn in for a five-year term on April 4, 2021, becoming Kosovo’s second female president.
15. She is married to Prindon Sadriu, an employee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and they have twin daughters.
