page_title: Atifete Jahjaga
section_title: President of Kosovo
hierarchical_section_title: Atifete Jahjaga / President of Kosovo
caption_attribution_description: English: President Jahjaga and Joe Biden
context_page_description: Atifete Jahjaga is a Kosovar politician and stateswoman who served as the third President of Kosovo. She was the first female President of the Republic of Kosovo, the first non-partisan candidate and the youngest female head of state to be elected to the top office. She served as Deputy Director of the Kosovo Police, holding the rank of General Lieutenant Colonel, the most senior among women officers in Southeastern Europe.
context_section_description: Following a political crisis that engulfed Kosovo with the resignation of President Fatmir Sejdiu and after the Constitutional Court's decision which ruled against the election of Behxhet Pacolli as President of Kosovo, on 6 April 2011, due to her background in public service and highly demonstrated integrity, Atifete was announced as the consensus candidate for the office of President of Kosovo, under support from the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Democratic League of Kosovo and New Kosovo Alliance, and supported by the US Ambassador in Kosovo, Christopher Dell. Although she enjoyed a positive reputation as a police commander, she came out of relative obscurity as a candidate for the highest office of the state, with most of the public and political leaders unaware of her political leanings.
  On 7 April, Jahjaga was elected President on the first round of voting by the Parliament; of 100 MPs present, 80 voted for Jahjaga and 10 cast a ballot for Suzan Novoberdali. To date, she is the only president to be elected on the first round of voting. Only Kosovo's 1st President Ibrahim Rugova has received more votes, being appointed by the Parliament by an 88-3 vote in 2002, in the third round of voting.
  In her inaugural address, Jahjaga stated that her main goal as the President is to put Kosovo on a safe path toward membership into the European Union and the United Nations.
  "The ideal of all Kosovo is membership in the EU and a permanent friendship with the United States. I believe and I am convinced our dreams will come true," she said in her first speech to the Parliament.
caption: President Jahjaga and Joe Biden
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