Hashim Thaçi, Kosovan soldier and politician, 5th Prime Minister of Kosovo
Hashim Thaçi (Albanian: Hashim Thaçi; [hä'ʃɪm 'θɑ:t͡ɕɪ] (listen); born 24 April 1968) is a Kosovar politician who was the President of Kosovo from April 2016 until his resignation on 5 November 2020 to face a war crimes tribunal. He was the first Prime Minister of Kosovo and the Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister in the new cabinet led by Isa Mustafa, which assumed office on 12 December 2014.
Thaçi is from the region of Drenica in Kosovo, which is where the KLA originated. He studied philosophy in Prishtina before moving to Switzerland, where he joined the Kosovo Liberation Army in 1993. He rose through the ranks of the KLA to become leader of the most powerful faction by 1999, during the Rambouillet negotiations. He then joined the interim Kosovo administration after the war.
Thaçi became leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), which won the largest share of the vote in the 2007 Kosovo elections. In 2008, Thaçi declared the independence of Kosovo and became its first prime minister. In 2016 he was elected President of Kosovo. Thaçi has pursued a pro-American policy while in office. There have been controversies regarding Thaçi's role in the KLA and allegations about him being involved in organized crime. In 2020, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor's Office filed a ten-count Indictment, charging Hashim Thaçi and others for crimes against humanity and war crimes. Thaçi subsequently resigned from his position as president, in his words, in order to "protect the integrity of the presidency of Kosovo".