Thaçi, Hashim

Thaçi, Hashim

(häshēm` thä`chē), 1968–, Kosovar political leader. An ethnic Albanian, he studied history and politics at Priština Univ., becoming active in KosovoKosovo
, Albanian Kosova, Serbian Kosovo i Metohija and Kosmet, officially Republic of Kosovo, republic (2015 est. pop. 1,871,000), 4,126 sq mi (10,686 sq km), SE Europe, a former province of Serbia that unilaterally declared its independence in 2008.
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's independence movement. He joined the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1993 and soon moved to Switzerland. He was involved in guerilla attacks (1996–97) on Serbian leaders, and following a brutal Serbian crackdown he became the KLA's political leader in 1999. After Kosovo was placed under a NATO peacekeeping force, the KLA was dissolved and Thaçi established the Democratic party of Kosovo (PDK), becoming its president in 2000. In Nov., 2007, the PDK won a parliamentary majority; Thaçi became prime minister in Jan., 2008. A month later Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia. He remained prime minister after the 2010–11 elections, but was succeeded by Isa Mustafa when the PDK was forced into a coalition after the 2014 elections. In 2016 Thaçi was elected president of Kovoso.