page_title: Hashim Thaçi
section_title: Victory in 2007 election and declaration of Kosovar independence
hierarchical_section_title: Hashim Thaçi / Prime Minister of Kosovo / Victory in 2007 election and declaration of Kosovar independence
context_page_description: Hashim Thaçi is a Kosovar politician who has been the President of Kosovo since April 2016. 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, 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.
context_section_description: Kosovo elections were held on 17 November 2007. After early results based on 90 percent of the votes, Hashim Thaçi, who was on course to gain 34 percent, claimed victory for the PDK. He stated his intention to declare independence without delay on 10 December, the date set by the United Nations for the end of negotiations with Serbia. At 45 percent, the turnout at the election was particularly low, as most Serbs refused to vote.
  On 19 November 2007, several EU foreign ministers warned Thaçi and his allies against proceeding with their declaration of independence without consultations. Luxembourg's Jean Asselborn and Sweden's Carl Bildt urged the PDK not to make any hasty moves, while the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana stressed the importance of proper preparations prior to formal independence. After EU talks on Kosovo in London on 19 November 2007, the UK's Europe minister, Jim Murphy, said independence without foreign support could isolate the breakaway province.
  Hashim Thaçi was designated as the next leader of Kosovo's government on 11 December 2007 by the Kosovar President Fatmir Sejdiu and told to form a government "as soon as possible". His Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) began coalition talks with the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) as well as the Alliance for New Kosovo (AKR). Those parties together control 75 seats of 120 in the assembly.
  On 9 January 2008, Thaçi was elected as Prime Minister by parliament, with 85 votes in favor and 22 against. On this occasion, he stated his intention to achieve independence for Kosovo in the first half of 2008.
  On 16 February 2008, Thaçi announced that the next day, 17 February, would be key for "implementing the will of the citizens of Kosovo", strongly implying the province would declare independence from Serbia. On 17 February 2008, Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. Thaçi became Prime Minister of the newly independent state.
  On 6 June 2008, a gunman broke into Thaçi's home in Pristina, while the latter was not present.
caption: Thaçi and U.S. Vice President Joe Biden with Declaration of Independence of Kosovo
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