Rrustem Berisha

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Rrustem Berisha
Minister of Defense
In office
9 September 2017 – 3 February 2020
PresidentHashim Thaçi
Prime MinisterRamush Haradinaj
Preceded byHaki Demolli
Succeeded byAnton Quni
Member of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo
Assumed office
2014
Personal details
Born
Rrustem Berisha

(1965-03-02) 2 March 1965 (age 56)
Doberdol, Peć, Yugoslavia
NationalityKosovar
Political partyAlliance for the Future of Kosovo
Children4
OccupationPolitician and soldier
Military service
AllegianceSocialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslavia
Croatia Croatia
 Kosova
Kosovo Republic of Kosovo
Branch/serviceYugoslav People's Army
Croatian Army
Kosovo Liberation Army
Kosovo Protection Corps
Kosovo Security Force
Years of service1984–1991, 1991–1995, 1998–2015
UnitKSF Rapid Reaction Brigade
Battles/warsCroatian War of Independence
Kosovo War

Rrustem Berisha (born 2 March 1965) is a Kosovar politician and military officer. He was Minister of Defense in Haradinaj cabinet. During the Yugoslav Wars, he fought in the Croatian War of Independence and the Kosovo War. He was a commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the Battle of Košare.

Early life and education[]

Rrustem Berisha was born in Doberdol, Peć, Yugoslavia on 2 March 1965.[1] From 1980 to 1984, Berisha attended a military high school in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.[1]

Career[]

After graduating from military school, Berisha served in the Yugoslav People's Army. From 1984 to 1985, Berisha served as a platoon commander in Karlovac.[1] From 1985 to 1988, Berisha attended a military school in Sarajevo to train to be an officer.[1]

From 1988 to 1991, after graduation to a Yugoslav People's Army officer, Berisha served as a company commander in Delnice, Croatia, which was then part of Yugoslavia.[1]

From 1991 to 1992, Berisha fought in the Croatian War of Independence on the side of the Croatians.[1]

From 1998 to 1999, Berisha was a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).[1][2] In this time he fought in the Dukagjini region of Kosovo.[3]

In 1999, following the disarmament of the KLA, Berisha joined the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC).[1] From 1999 to 2002, he served as the Chief of Staff of the KPC's Second Defense Zone.[1]

From 2002 to 2009, Berisha directed the Hamëz Jashari military academy.[1]

In 2009, Berisha was named the Deputy Commander of the Rapid Reaction Brigade of the newly-formed Kosovo Security Force (KSF).[1] The KSF was a relatively new entity at the time, having come into existence on 21 January 2009.[4] Berisha continued in this position until 2014.[1]

Politics[]

In 2013, Berisha entered politics, joining the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo. That year, he became a member of the AFK's governing council and its presidency.[1]

In 2014, Berisha ran for a seat in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo and won. He became a member of the Assembly's Committee on Rights, Interests of Communities and Returns and the Committee for Economic Development.[1] He also became the Vice Chairperson of Oversight Committee for Kosovo Intelligence Agency.[1]

In February 2016, a Serbian court convicted Berisha and seven other former KLA soldiers in absentia of acts of terrorism for attacks on soldiers of the Yugoslav army in September 1998.[2] Before the trial ended, Berisha questioned the credibility of the indictment and the allegations on which it was based.[2]

Berisha was reelected to the Assembly in the 2017 elections in Kosovo.[1]

On 9 September 2017, Berisha was appointed the Minister of the Kosovo Security Force.[1] He replaced Haki Demolli.[5]

As minister for the security force, Berisha worked towards closer cooperation between the Albanian Armed Forces and the Kosovo Security Force.[6]

Notes[]

a.   ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008. Serbia continues to claim it as a part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the 2013 Brussels Agreement. Kosovo is currently recognised as an independent state by 97 out of the 193 United Nations member states. In total, 112 UN member states have recognised Kosovo at some point, of which 15 states later withdrew their recognition.

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q "Rrustem Berisha - Minister of the Ministry for the Kosovo Security Force". Ministry for the Kosovo Security Forces. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  2. ^ a b c Nikolic, Ivana (17 February 2016). "Kosovo Ex-Guerrillas Convicted of Yugoslav Army Killings". Balkan Insight. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  3. ^ Perritt, Henry H. (2008). Kosovo Liberation Army: The Inside Story of an Insurgency. University of Illinois Press. p. 66. ISBN 978-0-252-03342-1. LCCN 2007046798.
  4. ^ "Kosovo's security force launched". BBC. 21 January 2009. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
  5. ^ "COMKFOR met the new Minister of KSF". European Western Balkans. 5 October 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  6. ^ "Kosovo and Albania – Cooperation in the field of defence". NATO Kosovo Force. 27 September 2017. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
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