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By:
Shaban Maxharraj
- February 17, 2025 23:17 AM
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The exhibition “Kosovo Independence in the Albanian Press” has brought together the front pages of the newspapers of February 17 and 18, 2008. “Kosovo”, “Independence”, “State” are the three most used words on the front pages of the time while the photographs capture crowds of citizens celebrating. Generations who come to the National Library of Kosovo can find the stories of the first day of independent Kosovo along with the history of the achievement until that day.
The images selected for the cover are almost all of festive moments. Together they create a mosaic of different festive ways. It was the biggest holiday in Kosovo and there was no way it could be presented any other way.
Journalists had to be on the ground and document the historic day, when Kosovo became the newest state in the world on February 17, 2008. It was the most important event for the people of Kosovo and at the same time the most important event reported on by those who were lucky enough to practice their profession that day.
"We shot a lucky generation," the now-deceased journalist Ganimet Klaiqi would write that day, on the historic wall of signatures of "Koha Ditore".
This sentence is manifested in different ways on each front page of the newspapers that were exhibited on Monday in the lobby of the amphitheater of the National Library of Kosovo.
The exhibition "Kosovo Independence in the Albanian Press" has brought together the front pages of the newspapers of February 17 and 18. At that time, Kosovo had quite a few newspapers and the documentation of the great holiday was covered, documenting the reading of the Declaration of Independence, the unveiling of the NEWBORN monument and many other events. The National Library of Kosovo preserves them all. And on the 17th anniversary, it has chosen to exhibit them.
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"Kosovo Independence..." with newspaper reports on the historic day
“Kosovo”, “Independence”, “State” are the three most used words on the front pages of the time while the photographs capture crowds of citizens celebrating. There are also two issues of the country's first independent newspaper, “Koha Ditore”. Another with the front page “Kosovo State” which was a special issue of that day is missing. Academician Bardh Rugova, then deputy editor-in-chief of “Koha Ditore” and now chairman of the Steering Council of the National Library of Kosovo, recalled the time when the newspaper issues that gave news about Independence were being prepared. He recalled that after two coffees in the morning of that day he had gone to work. He also remembered that the day before he had fixed a tooth. He then added that while the Declaration of Independence was being read, his tooth started to hurt. Symbolically, he showed that he experienced the moment with pain, as the pain was great to reach the day when Kosovo became a state.
"I had written an article the day before about the 1974 Constitution and another about the history of Kosovo. Both would find a place in that special issue of the newspaper that we would distribute for free. In the morning with the editor-in-chief Agron Bajrami we had decided on the title: 'Kosovo State' for the special issue and 'State Awaits Recognition' for the regular issue," he said. He described the journalism of that time as different from that of today. He said that it served to describe realities and not to construct narratives. According to him, such exhibitions serve as an act of pride for something that has been sacrificed for generations.
The Director of the National Library of Kosovo, Blerina Rogova-Gaxha, recalled the time when she and her teachers left school to take to the streets in search of freedom, in protests in the city square. She described it as one of the most powerful experiences of her generation.
"In 2008, the history of Kosovo turned the page and the transformation of political and historical reality took place before our eyes with dizzying speed. Therefore, today, on this day, with this exhibition, we want to recall a recent past and the great effort of the country in its fight for independence and the great dream of peace," said Rogova-Gaxha. According to her, the exhibition focuses on reflecting this historical event through images from the Albanian press of the time, as an effective and powerful way to express the historical events of that period and to enrich collective memory.
"But independence is not just a political status - it is a responsibility. The responsibility to build a just society, where the rule of law, equality and well-being for all prevail," said Rogova-Gaxha. According to her, in addition to the celebration on this joyful day, there was also a commitment to work every day for a better and stronger Kosovo.
"Let us be united in our vision to guarantee a brighter future for generations to come," she said.
"Resistance in Kosovo..." browses the underground press between ideology and freedom
Generations coming to the National Library of Kosovo can find stories of the first day of independent Kosovo along with the history of the journey leading up to that day.
“The State of Kosovo is first recognized by France, the USA and Great Britain, on February 18”, is the announced headline of the front page of the newspaper “Zëri” on February 16, while an editorial titled “Making History” by the publicist Blerim Shala, who was the editor-in-chief and later the publisher of this newspaper. On Friday, February 22, another issue of the first newspaper of Kosovo, “Rilindja”, would be published. In February 1945, its first issue would also be published in Prizren, transforming it into one of the institutions of the country that had just emerged from the Second World War.
"Kosovo declared independence, the world recognizes the newest state," it was written at the top of the front page. And at the bottom it was announced that: "February 17, 2008 is the greatest Albanian day after November 28, 1912, the Independence of Albania."
The exhibition also features some of the texts from the first days after Independence. It was a time when the state had taken the first steps towards consolidation as a Republic with international supervision.
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"Voices and Images" with the most important stories of the day
"Ten laws in one hour", is the title of Agron Halitaj's article in "Koha Ditore" which shows how the Parliament had rapidly approved the laws that were considered the most important for the functionality of the state.
"The draft law on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the draft law on diplomatic privileges and immunities, the draft law on citizenship, police, police inspectorate, travel documents, the use of state symbols, special protected areas, local self-government and the draft law on municipal administrative borders voted in a 'package' on Tuesday and received an absolute majority of the votes of the deputies," the article reads, among other things. The attacks by Serbs at the two border points of the new state were also covered. Another text tells of a visa-free movement agreement between Albania and Serbia and tells of the friendly pressure that Albania was exerting on what is today North Macedonia to recognize Kosovo. Her writings tell of the rule of law mission - EULEX that was taking root in Kosovo and of the addition of new institutions to the independent state. The newspapers are full of information that will be useful to current and future researchers. But after 17 years, Kosovo no longer has a single printed newspaper. And the exhibition at the National Library of Kosovo, among other things, has drawn attention to the importance of the press. It has shown that documenting events on paper has another weight. That of archiving history.
