Ardian Gjini

Gjini was president of the Gjakova branch of the Albanian National Democratic Party from 1997 to 2001.[2] After the end of the Kosovo War in 1999, he became deputy mayor of the city's self-appointed provisional government.

A Christian Science Monitor report from shortly after the war described local authorities in Gjakova as restoring electricity, telephone service, and street lighting to the city, as well as distributing free bread. Gjini was quoted as saying, "After three months of terror, people still feel frustrated and unsafe. [...] Seeing there are phones, streetlights, some local news, bread - they are beginning to feel that they can live here again."[3] Some, including members the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), expressed concerns about the KLA's ongoing influence over the city government.[4]

Gjini was elected to the Gjakova city assembly in the 2000 Kosovan local elections as one of seven delegates from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (which, in its initial form, was a literal alliance rather than a united party). The Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) won a majority victory, and Gjini's term as deputy mayor came to an end.[5][6] He was not a candidate in the 2002 local elections.

Gjini joined the AAK when it became an official party in 2001. In March of that year, he joined party leader Ramush Haradinaj and others on an official delegation to Croatia.[7] After the 2001 Kosovan parliamentary election, he represented the AAK in informal talks with other parties on the formation of a new government.[8]

Notwithstanding that the AAK was an opposition party, Gjini served as an assistant to Kosovo prime minister Bajram Rexhepi from March 2002 to September 2003.[9] In May 2003, he complained that UNMIK had refused to grant Kosovo's government real competency in matters such as the economy, judiciary, police, legislation, and the budget.[10]

Gjini appeared in the forty-first position on the AAK's electoral list in the 2004 Kosovan parliamentary election. The party won nine seats, and he was not elected.[11][12] After the election, the LDK and AAK formed a coalition government. Although the AAK was the junior partner in the coalition, Haradinaj was appointed as prime minister in December 2004, and Gjini was named as his chief political advisor.[13] After his appointment, he said the government was planning to open information offices for Kosovo in major international capitals.[14]

Haradinaj was indicated by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on war crimes charges in March 2005. He resigned as prime minister and was replaced by Bajram Kosumi, also of the AAK. On 23 March, Gjini was appointed to replace Kosumi as minister of environment and spatial planning.[15] In November of the same year, he was also appointed as the AAK's representative on a team negotiating the status of Kosovo at a series of meetings in Vienna with Serbian delegates.[16][17]

In July 2006, the Vetëvendosje (VV) movement held protests against the Kosovo government's negotiations with Serbia. Gjini defended the administration's strategy, saying, "If they think we are fooling the people they are fooling themselves. [...] If anyone has a better solution than the negotiations they should tell us."[18]

Gjini also served during this time on a government working group on privatization and the future of the Kosovo Trust Agency.[19] He visited the United States of America in May 2005 as a guest of the Albanian American Civic League to promote the independence of Kosovo.[20] In January 2006, he indicated that the AAK would support Fatmir Sejdiu, the LDK's candidate for president of Kosovo after the death of Ibrahim Rugova.[21]

Gjini appeared in the tenth position on the AAK's list in the 2007 Kosovan parliamentary election. Parliamentary elections in Kosovo are held under open list proportional representation; he finished in seventh place among the party's candidates and was elected when the list won ten seats.[22][23] The Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) and the LDK formed a new coalition government after the election, and the AAK moved into opposition; Gjini's term as a cabinet minister ended in January 2008. He became the leader of the AAK's assembly group and said that his party would support the new government on issues related to the status of Kosovo.[24] The following month, Kosovo's assembly and governing authorities unilaterally declared independence for the territory as the Republic of Kosovo.

Ramush Haradinaj was acquitted of war crimes in April 2008 due to a lack of evidence. Following the verdict, Gjini said, "It was a big mistake to indict him. He is a war hero, not a war criminal, and the greatest living commander in Kosovo. He was also the best prime minister we've seen and made people here believe things could work."[25]

UNMIK called for new talks between Serbia and the Republic of Kosovo in August 2008. Gjini encouraged the Republic of Kosovo government to insist that no changes be made to the Ahtisaari Plan.[26]

Gjini was named as one of four deputy chairpersons of the AAK in December 2008.[27]

Gjini finished eighth among the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo's candidates in the 2010 Kosovan parliamentary election and was re-elected when the list won twelve seats.[28][29] The AAK remained in opposition, and Gjini again served as the party's leader in the assembly.[30] In February 2011, he said that the AAK supported Jakup Krasniqi's bid for re-election as speaker but would not participate in the vote for the new president and cabinet.[31][32]

In August 2011, Gjini said that the AAK would vote against a motion from the New Kosovo Alliance (AKR) assembly group to introduce religious education to Kosovo's education system. He was quoted as saying, "Let them learn about the religion in the mosques and Orthodox or Catholic churches as much as they want, but religion should not be taught in Kosovo's public schools."[33]

Unlike some other opposition parties in the Republic of Kosovo assembly, the AAK took part in the negotiations that led to the 2013 Brussels Agreement, which normalized some relations between the Serbia and Republic of Kosovo without addressing the status of Kosovo. "We have decided to become a part of this process, so we can give our input to make sure there are no mistakes and that the solution for the [predominantly Serb north of Kosovo] is in Kosovo's favour," Gjini said.[34]

Gjini called for Ibrahim Gashi to stand down as rector of the University of Pristina in February 2014, following revelations of Gashi's academic misconduct.[35]

Gjini finished fourteenth among the AAK's candidates in the 2014 Kosovan parliamentary election and was not re-elected when the list won eleven seats.[36] The election did not produce a clear winner, and Gjini subsequently represented the AAK in an ultimately failed attempt to create a new coalition government with the LDK and the Initiative for Kosovo (NISMA).[37]

Gjini was elected as mayor of Gjakova in the 2017 local elections, defeating incumbent Mimoza Kusari Lila. He was re-elected in the 2021 local elections.

Gjini welcomed Eliot Engel, an American politician known for his support of the Republic of Kosovo, to Gjakova in 2019. During the visit, he introduced a new city street named in Engel's honour.[38]

Gjini continues to serve as a deputy president of the AAK and is a frequent commentator on the Republic of Kosovo's diplomatic activities. In 2018, he described the prospect of a territorial exchange between Serbia and the Republic of Kosovo as "dangerous" and "idiotic."[39] In 2023, he said that his party would support the Ohrid Agreement.[40]