Agim Çeku ( sh, Agim Čeku, born 29 October 1960) is a Kosovan politician, the former minister of Security Forces in

Kosovo Kosovo ( sq, Kosova or ; sr-Cyrl, Косово ), officially the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Republika e Kosovës, links=no; sr, Република Косово, Republika Kosovo, links=no), is a partially recognised state in Southeast Euro ...

and formerly the

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

. Of military background, he was a commander of the

Kosovo Liberation Army The Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA; , UÇK) was an ethnic Albanian separatist militia that sought the separation of Kosovo, the vast majority of which is inhabited by Albanians, from the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) and Serbia during the ...

(KLA) that fought against Serbian rule in 1998–1999, earlier being a commander in the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...

in the

Croatian Army The Croatian Army ( hr, Hrvatska kopnena vojska or HKoV) is the largest and most significant component of the Croatian Armed Forces (CAF). Role and deployment The fundamental role and purpose of the Croatian Army is to protect vital national i ...

. Çeku is an ethnic

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

who served as an officer in the Croatian Army during the Croatian War of Independence and was military commander of the KLA during the 1998–1999

Kosovo War The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the war ...

, and then commanded the

Kosovo Protection Corps The Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC; sq, Trupat e Mbrojtjes së Kosovës (TMK)) was a civilian emergency services organisation in Kosovo active from 1999 to 2009. The KPC was created on September 21, 1999, through the promulgation of United Nation ...

under the

United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo The United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) is the officially mandated mission of the United Nations in Kosovo. The UNMIK describes its mandate as being to "help the United Nations Security Council achieve an overall ...

Early life

Çeku was born in Ćuška (''Qyshk'' in Albanian), a village near

Peja Peja ( Indefinite Albanian form: ''Pejë'' ) or Peć ( sr-Cyrl, Пећ ) is the fourth largest city of Kosovo and seat of Peja Municipality and Peja District. It is situated in the region of Rugova on the eastern section of the Accursed Mount ...

, at the time part of the Kosovo-Metohija Province of

PR Serbia , life_span = 1944–1992 , status = Constituent state of Yugoslavia , p1 = Territory of the Military Commander in Serbia , flag_p1 = Flag of German Reich (1935–1945).svg , p2 ...

FPR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...

Military career

After Agim Çeku finished the secondary military school in

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

, he attended the

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

Military Academy. Shortly afterwards, he joined the

Yugoslav People's Army The Yugoslav People's Army (abbreviated as JNA/; Macedonian and sr-Cyrl-Latn, Југословенска народна армија, Jugoslovenska narodna armija; Croatian and bs, Jugoslavenska narodna armija; sl, Jugoslovanska ljudska a ...

(JNA) as an artillery captain. In 1991 the

Yugoslav wars The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related#Naimark, Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and Insurgency, insurgencies that took place in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, SFR Yugoslavia from ...

broke out and he deserted from the JNA and joined the

Croatian National Guard The Croatian National Guard ( hr, Zbor narodne garde or ZNG) was an armed force established by Croatia in April and May 1991 during the Croatian War of Independence. Although it was established within the framework of the Ministry of the Interi ...

(which transformed into the Croatian Army), when the Republic of Croatia fought a war in

breaking away ''Breaking Away'' is a 1979 American coming of age comedy-drama film produced and directed by Peter Yates and written by Steve Tesich. It follows a group of four male teenagers in Bloomington, Indiana, who have recently graduated from high sc ...

from Yugoslavia. The Croatian Army fought the Serb breakaway

Republic of Serbian Krajina The Republic of Serbian Krajina or Serb Republic of Krajina ( sh, Република Српска Крајина, italics=no / or РСК / ''RSK'', ), known as the Serbian Krajina ( / ) or simply Krajina, was a self-proclaimed Serb proto-state, ...

. He participated in several military operations, he first was in

Operation Maslenica Operation Maslenica was a Croatian Army offensive launched in January 1993 to retake territory in northern Dalmatia and Lika from Krajina Serb forces, with the stated military objective of pushing the Serbs back from approaches to Zadar, Maslen ...

when he was the head of

Velebit Velebit (; it, Alpi Bebie) is the largest, though not the highest, mountain range in Croatia. The range forms a part of the Dinaric Alps and is located along the Adriatic coast, separating it from Lika in the interior. Velebit begins in the nor ...

's artillery section, from January to February 1993,

Operation Medak pocket Operation Medak Pocket ( sh, script=Latn, Operacija Medački džep, ) was a military operation undertaken by the Croatian Army between 9 – 17 September 1993, in which a salient reaching the south suburbs of Gospić, in the south-central Lika ...

near Gospić, in which he was wounded, and

Operation Storm }) was the last major battle of the Croatian War of Independence and a major factor in the outcome of the Bosnian War. It was a decisive victory for the Croatian Army (HV), which attacked across a front against the self-declared proto-state R ...

in August 1995 that captured most of the Krajina territory. Subsequently, he continued the advance as head of Croatian forces into the Republic of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

fighting in western Bosnia against the forces of the Serb Republic in

Operation Maestral Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. After the war the Croatian Army was reformed and President

Franjo Tuđman Franjo Tuđman (; 14 May 1922 – 10 December 1999), also written as Franjo Tudjman, was a Croatian politician and historian. Following the country's independence from Yugoslavia, he became the first president of Croatia and served as p ...

named Çeku commanding officer of the Fifth District Region in

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

. In 1998 he filed a request for retirement in order to go to Kosovo to join the ethnic Albanian

(KLA) that fought Serbian rule, which was officially fulfilled in February 1999 with his resignation.

Kosovo War

Çeku had developed contacts with the KLA in the mid-1990s. When war broke out in Kosovo, the KLA initially did very badly against the Yugoslav forces, due in part to poor leadership under senior commander Sylejman Selimi, a militarily inexperienced individual who had been given the post largely because of his influence in the

Drenica Drenica ( al, Drenicë, Drenica, ), also known as the Drenica Valley, is a hilly region in central Kosovo, covering roughly around of Kosovo's total area (6%). It consists of two municipalities, Drenas and Skenderaj, and several villages in Klin ...

region (the KLA's heartland). In May 1999, Çeku was appointed the KLA's chief of staff, replacing Selimi. He immediately set about reorganising the KLA and implementing a proper military structure within the organization. In the closing days of the Kosovo War, the KLA began providing systematic intelligence to

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

as well as mounting attacks to lure Serbian forces into the open, enabling NATO warplanes to bomb them. According to reports at the time, Çeku was the principal liaison between NATO and the KLA.

Kosovo Protection Corps

Following the end of the war in June 1999, Çeku oversaw the demilitarisation of the KLA and its transformation into the

(KPC), an ostensibly civilian organization charged with disaster response, demining, search and response and humanitarian projects. Although the international community insisted the KPC was a civilian organization, Çeku and its membership said they believed the KPC should evolve into the future army of an independent Kosovo. Çeku managed ably many difficult challenges for the KPC, including allegations that its members were supporting the ethnic Albanian insurgency in Macedonia in 2001.

Political career

On 10 March 2006, Çeku was elected Prime Minister of Kosovo by the

Kosovo Assembly The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo ( sq, Kuvendi i Republikës së Kosovës; sr, Скупштина Републике Косово, Skupština Republike Kosovo) is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of Kosovo that is directly electe ...

. After being sworn in, he declared his support for Kosovo independence, whilst promising to protect the rights of the Serbian minority. Çeku's appointment was backed by former Prime Minister

Ramush Haradinaj Ramush Haradinaj (; born 3 July 1968) is a Kosovo Albanian politician, leader of the AAK party, and the third prime minister of Kosovo. He is a former officer and leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and previously served as Prime Minister ...

, who resigned in early 2005 after the ICTY had indicted him for war crimes. In his first one hundred days in office, Çeku prioritized the implementation of the UN-endorsed "Standards" for good governance and multi-ethnicity, earning praise from UN Kosovo chief

Søren Jessen-Petersen Søren Jessen-Petersen (born 1945) is a Danish lawyer and civil servant. He was named Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Kosovo and head of UNMIK on 16 July 2004. He held the position until the end of June 2006. ...

and

Contact Group The Contact Group is the name for an informal grouping of great powers that have a significant interest in policy developments in the Balkans (an International Contact Group). The Contact Group is composed of United States, United Kingdom, Fran ...

countries. On 24 July 2006, Çeku traveled to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

for the first high-level meeting between the Presidents and Prime Ministers of Serbia and Kosovo to discuss Kosovo's future status. He stated that he would found a new political party after stepping down as PM, dispelling rumours that he would join the

Reformist Party ORA Reformist Party ORA ( sq, Partia Reformiste ORA) was a social-democratic political party in Kosovo. The party supported Kosovo independence. The party was normally referred to as ORA, which in Albanian means the Hour. ORA was founded as ''Civil ...

. However, he joined the

Social Democratic Party of Kosovo The Social Democratic Party of Kosovo ( sq, Partia Socialdemokrate e Kosovës, PSD) is a political party in Kosovo. It was established on 10 February 1990 by Kaqusha Jashari, and was the second political party to be established in the newly plur ...

on 10 April 2008, and did not rule out that the party would unify with ORA. On 23 February 2011, Çeku was made Minister of Security Forces of Kosovo.

War crimes accusations

The Serbian government has accused Çeku of war crimes. Although Çeku has not been the subject of any

ICTY The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal ...

indictment, he was briefly detained in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

in October 2003 and in Hungary in March 2004 on the basis of an

Interpol The International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO; french: link=no, Organisation internationale de police criminelle), commonly known as Interpol ( , ), is an international organization that facilitates worldwide police cooperation and cri ...

warrant issued by

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

. The ICTY issued the last indictments in late 2004 and limited all further investigations to ongoing cases only. In May 2009,

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

n authorities expelled Çeku from a conference held in the country due to Serbia's extradition request based on possible war crimes committed by him during the Kosovo War. On 23 June 2009 he was arrested in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

under the

arrest warrant issued by

for alleged war crimes in Kosovo against non-Albanian population. The Bulgarian authorities decided to release him from custody, but requested that he remain in the country for up to 40 days as officials consider Serbia's extradition request. On 30 June, he returned to Kosovo, after the Bulgarian prosecutors decided not to appeal the court's decision for his release. In September 2020, he was summoned by the prosecutors at Hague as a war crimes suspect.

Family life

He is married to Dragica, who is half- Serbian, half- Croatian. They have three children and the family divides its time between

Pristina Pristina, ; sr, / (, ) is the capital and largest city of Kosovo. The city's municipal boundaries in Pristina District form the largest urban center in Kosovo. After Tirana, Pristina has the second largest population of ethnic Albanians and ...

and the Croatian town of

.
Letter from Kosovo; The Countdown-

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

Notes

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ceku, Agim 1960 births Living people Politicians from Peja Prime ministers of Kosovo Defence ministers of Kosovo Military personnel of the Croatian War of Independence Kosovo Liberation Army soldiers Alliance for the Future of Kosovo politicians Social Democratic Party of Kosovo politicians Officers of the Yugoslav People's Army 20th-century Albanian military personnel 20th-century Albanian people Kosovo Albanians Croatian independence activists Croatian people of Albanian descent Croatian people of Kosovan descent