VETËVENDOSJE! - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Vetëvendosje is a radical nationalistic

Nationalism

Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...

political movement in Kosovo

Kosovo

Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...

which opposes foreign involvement in internal affairs in the country and campaigns for the sovereignty exercised by the people and government of the Republic of Kosovo

Republic of Kosovo

Kosovo , officially the Republic of Kosovo is a partially recognised state and a disputed territory in the Balkans...

instead, as part of the right of self-determination.

The movement has always refused to declare its ideology as left- or right-wing because it is a political movement that is centered around principles of all parts of the political spectrum. The movement is both conservative in asking for a strong military and at the same time socialist in asking for developed healthcare and social support programs. The Vetëvendosje! movement believes in a free market in which the government aids domestic producers of goods and services in order to enable them to compete in the regional and global markets.

The dominant figure in the movement is the Kosovar

Kosovar

Kosovar/Kosovan may refer to:* Something of, from, or related to Kosovo, a landlocked region in the Balkans, the majority of which is governed by the partially-recognised Republic of Kosovo....

activist, Albin Kurti

Albin Kurti

Albin Kurti is the leading activist and party leader of VETËVENDOSJE!. He came to prominence in 1997 as the vice-president of UPSUP, the University of Prishtina Student Union, and the main organiser of the nonviolent demonstrations in autumn 1997 and spring 1998...

. One of the movements political points is to hold a referendum on union with Albania.
The Vetëvendosje! movement is the largest political subject in the Republic of Kosovo

Republic of Kosovo

Kosovo , officially the Republic of Kosovo is a partially recognised state and a disputed territory in the Balkans...

regarding active membership, regarding amount of "centers" (central offices in each Albanian city worldwide, including any place abroad with a community of Albanians living there), regarding way of organization and also regarding the masses of people it can mobilize for any activity, whether concert or protest. Currently the movement counts around 20,000 activists, who are active members at the movement's disposal any time necessary.

On 10 February 2007 a demonstration organized by Vetëvendosje and attended by more than 60,000 people took place in the streets of Pristina. Riot police were deployed after the rioters allegedly planned to storm the government office. Following this deployment, after few minutes Romanian UNMIK riot police started firing tear gas and rubber bullets at the crowd which until then was protesting peacefully. The Romania

Romania

Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

n UNMIK police officers then fired directly at the face of one of the protesters, resulting in the immediate death of this unarmed civilian. Following the first casualty the situation went fully out of control and the police began firing rubber bullets at the protesters while always aiming at their heads, resulting in another casualty of a protester who was shot point-blank while he was hiding from the tear gas inside Hotel Iliria, countless other protesters were injured wile one protester who was shot next to the heart survived after a long state of coma and still today lives with the projectile inside his chest. The end of the protest resulted in 2 deaths, 7 serious injuries and 73 minor injuries.

The movement campaigned through graffiti opposing the negotiations for the final status of Kosovo. The graffiti in Albanian is: Jo Negociata -- Vetëvendosje! (Albanian for "No negotiations - Self-determination!"). Among the targets for activities of Vetëvendosje activists are also the vehicles of the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK

United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo

The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo or UNMIK is the interim civilian administration in Kosovo, under the authority of the United Nations. The mission was established on 10 June 1999 by Security Council Resolution 1244...

) with UN signs, to which the activists add an F character at the beginning and a D character at the end resulting in FUND signs, which in Albanian means The End. The movement also opposes the decentralisation process which is leading to the de facto division of Kosovo along ethnic lines, separating Kosovo into ethnic Albanian and Serbian parts and as such resulting in ethnic discrimination of both Albanian and Serbian communities by creating ghettos based on ethnicity.
The movement has also organised protests in front of the headquarters of the United Nations in both New York and in Kosovo during the visits of the heads of state of Serbia.

In December 2010 the movement participated for the first time in national elections

Kosovan parliamentary election, 2010

The Kosovan parliamentary election was held in Kosovo on 12 December 2010 following a vote of no confidence in the government that brought forward the election....

and obtained 12.66% of the votes in an electoral process where there was "industrialized" ballot stuffing and election manipulation done by the ruling Democratic Party of Kosovo

Democratic Party of Kosovo

The Democratic Party of Kosovo is the largest political party in Kosovo . It is a social democratic party and the main leftist party in Kosovo....

of Hashim Thaçi

Hashim Thaci

Hashim Thaçi is the Prime Minister of Republic of Kosovo, the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo , and former political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army .-Early life and education:...

, Democratic League of Kosovo

Democratic League of Kosovo

The Democratic League of Kosovo is the second largest political party in Kosovo. It is a conservative and liberal conservative party; the main right-wing party in Kosovo....

of Isa Mustafa

Isa Mustafa

Isa Mustafa is an Albanian politician from Kosovo, the Mayor of Pristina and the leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo .-Early life:...

, Alliance for the Future of Kosovo

Alliance for the Future of Kosovo

The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo is a political party in Kosovo. It was formed on 29 April 2001.- Leadership :The current president of the party is Ramush Haradinaj. In December 2004 the parliament elected him as Prime Minister of Kosovo and he formed a coalition government with the largest...

of Ramush Haradinaj

Ramush Haradinaj

Ramush Haradinaj is a former leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army and former prime minister of Kosovo. He leads the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and is among former KLA officers charged of war crimes during the 1999 Kosovo War by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia...

and Alliance for New Kosovo of Behgjet Pacolli

Behgjet Pacolli

Behgjet Isa Pacolli is a former President of the Republic of Kosovo, and is now First Deputy Prime Minister serving in the cabinet of Hashim Thaçi...

. According to international election monitoring reports these elections were the worst in Kosovo history and according to Vetëvendosje! the final result of 12.66% only shows the percentage of votes the movement was able to protect and not the total percentage of votes which the movement actually won, claiming that in a fair electoral process the movement would be the largest political subject in the parliament. Vetëvendosje! deposited more than 1500 complaints as a result of which there were repeated elections in most Kosovar municipalities at least once (in the worst cases going up to a total of three rounds of voting in problematic towns like Skënderaj

Skënderaj

Srbica or Skënderaj is a city and municipality in the Kosovska Mitrovica district of northern Kosovo. It is the largest city in the Drenica region of Kosovo.- Name :...

and Mitrovica

Mitrovica

Mitrovica, which stems from the name "Saint Demetrius" or "Sveti Dimitrije" may refer to:- Places :* Kosovska Mitrovica, a city in the disputed region of Kosovo* Sremska Mitrovica, a city in Srem, Serbia...

). Although this result would place Vetëvendosje as the third political subject of Kosovo, one day after the elections Vetëvendosje presented findings of its observers who had witnessed voter manipulation and fraud in some constituencies.

Currently in the Republic of Kosovo

Republic of Kosovo

Kosovo , officially the Republic of Kosovo is a partially recognised state and a disputed territory in the Balkans...

the only real opposition to corruption, organized crime and international isolation is the Vetëvendosje! movement. It is the main target for Prime Minister Hashim Thaci

Hashim Thaci

Hashim Thaçi is the Prime Minister of Republic of Kosovo, the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo , and former political leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army .-Early life and education:...

's verbal assaults and activists of the movement have always been harassed and arrested by Thaci's police. According to the movement Thaci has turned the country into an isolated authoritarian regime of the mafia and the only way out of such a situation would be the resignation of the current government, early elections and the immediate arrest and prosecution of all cases of corruption, organized crime and terrorism.

The New Spirit Party

New Spirit Party

Partia Fryma e Re , abbreviated FER, was a political party in Kosovo. It was founded and registered with CEC in October 2010 by Harvard graduate Shpend Ahmeti, Ilir Deda, Director of the Kosovo Institute for Policy Research and Development and others, and supports Kosovo in becoming a new...

merged into Vetëvendosje! on 31 March 2011.
The chairman of the movement's parliamentary group is Visar Ymeri

Visar Ymeri

- Politics :Visar Ymeri is one the leading members and the spokesman of Vetëvendosje, the third largest party of Kosovo. In 2010 he was elected as a deputy of Vetëvendosje and is its current chairman in the Assembly of Kosovo. He is also a member of the parliamentary committee for economic...

. The President of the Vetëvendosje! movement Albin Kurti

Albin Kurti

is also Chairman of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Committee in the Republic of Kosovo

Republic of Kosovo

Kosovo , officially the Republic of Kosovo is a partially recognised state and a disputed territory in the Balkans...

while Vetëvendosje! MP Glauk Konjufca

Glauk Konjufca

- Politics :During his studies in the University of Pristina, Konjufca was the vice-director of the organization Center for Rights. In 2010 he was elected as a deputy of Vetëvendosje and is the current editor of its official weekly journal. He is also one of the Vice Presidents of the Assembly of...

is Deputy-Speaker of Parliament and is the current editor of the movement's weekly journal. Vetëvendosje! MP's also head, or are members of, different Committees in the Parliament of the Republic of Kosovo

Republic of Kosovo

Kosovo , officially the Republic of Kosovo is a partially recognised state and a disputed territory in the Balkans...

and have increasingly been vital to a healthy functioning of these Committees which in the past were just means for MP's to get additional salaries.

Members of Kosovan Parliament

Chairperson

Visar Ymeri
Visar Ymeri
- Politics :Visar Ymeri is one the leading members and the spokesman of Vetëvendosje, the third largest party of Kosovo. In 2010 he was elected as a deputy of Vetëvendosje and is its current chairman in the Assembly of Kosovo. He is also a member of the parliamentary committee for economic...

Members

Glauk Konjufca

Glauk Konjufca

Albana Fetoshi

Albulena Haxhiu

Alma Lama

Albin Kurti

Albin Kurti

Afrim Kasolli

Liburn Aliu

Rexhep Selimi

Florin Krasniqi

Florin Krasniqi

Florin Krasniqi is a Kosovar-American businessman, political activist and member of VETËVENDOSJE!-Background:...

Afrim Hoti

Albana Gashi

Members of Kosovan Parliament

See also