PRISTINA, Oct. 6 —After three parliamentary elections within a period of around 18 months and a prolonged period of institutional deadlock, Kosovo has finally elected a new President, Prof. Dr. Justina Shiroka-Pula. Following the vote in the Assembly, Justina Shiroka-Pula received 81 votes and was elected President of the Republic of Kosovo shortly after midnight, for a five-year term. Since Kosovo’s independence on February 17, 2008, Justina Shiroka-Pula is the third female presiden, reports the correspondent in Pristina of the Swiss Albanian-language newspaper LeCanton267.ch
Prime Minister Albin Kurti Nominated Academic and ASHAK President Justina Shiroka-Pula
Amid this tense political situation, on October 6 a new proposal was presented to unblock the process. Prime Minister Albin Kurti nominated academic and President of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, Prof. Dr. Justina Shiroka-Pula, for the position of President of the Republic. Her candidacy became part of a political agreement aimed at avoiding another institutional crisis and new elections.
According to the Swiss Albanian-language newspaper LeCanton27.ch, Albin Kurti is entering his fourth term as Prime Minister of Kosovo, becoming one of the most persistent political figures on the country’s political scene in recent years. With four terms as Prime Minister, Kurti is now among the politicians who have spent the longest periods at the head of Kosovo’s executive branch.
Kurti is among the Balkan political leaders with the most frequent presence in Switzerland, where through meetings with the Albanian diaspora and contacts with the authorities of the Swiss Confederation, he has strengthened the links between Kosovo and Switzerland.
The vote for the new President was held within the constitutional deadline and marked the end of a prolonged period of uncertainty over the leadership of the presidency. The presidential vote took place just minutes after the second-reading vote on the Draft Law amending and supplementing the Law on the Specialist Chambers, reports the Swiss Albanian-language newspaper LeCanton27.ch.
The election of Prof. Dr. Justina Shiroka-Pula is also particularly significant because of her academic and institutional profile. She is a university professor, economist and currently President of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo. During her career, she has also held senior public positions, including serving as Minister of Energy and Mining and as a member of the Kosovo Assembly.
With her extensive academic and professional experience, Prof. Dr. Shiroka-Pula is expected to carry out her duties as President in accordance with the constitutional and institutional responsibilities of the office.
Shiroka-Pula: “I Will Be President of All Citizens”
Her appointment has attracted particular attention, while her new position places her under the responsibility of representing the Republic of Kosovo and exercising the functions defined by the Constitution. Kosovo’s newly elected President, Justina Shiroka-Pula, said she accepted her new responsibility “with responsibility.”
Justina Shiroka-Pula Delivers Her First Speech as President: “Together We Will Build a Better Future for Future Generations”
“This mandate does not belong only to one person, but to the citizens and the state,” she said in her address to members of parliament.
Shiroka-Pula pledged to be President of all citizens and to defend the Constitution, the interests of the Republic and the interests of the citizens of Kosovo.
With the election of the new President, Kosovo closes a difficult chapter of institutional deadlock and opens the way toward the fuller functioning of the institutions of the Republic. After months of political disputes, negotiations and uncertainty, the October 6 vote brought a concrete conclusion to the process and created an opportunity for the institutions to refocus on their constitutional responsibilities and on issues of importance to the citizens and the country.
Who Is Justina Shiroka-Pula? From Kosovo’s Academy to the Presidency
Prof. Dr. Justina Shiroka-Pula, the newly elected President of the Republic of Kosovo, brings to the country’s highest state office a career spanning academia, economic research, public institutions and the leadership of Kosovo’s Academy of Sciences and Arts.
Born in Pristina in 1953, Shiroka-Pula studied Economics at the University of Pristina before pursuing postgraduate studies at the University of Zagreb. She went on to build a decades-long academic career at the University of Pristina, where she began working at the Faculty of Economics in 1978 and was appointed full professor in 2004.
Her academic work has focused on economics, operations research, management, planning and decision-making. Over the years, she has published scientific studies and monographs and supervised students at undergraduate, master’s and doctoral levels.
From the lecture halls of the University of Pristina to the leadership of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo and now the Presidency, Shiroka-Pula’s career has largely developed outside the traditional structures of party politics.
From academia to public life
Her professional career has also included engagement in Kosovo’s public institutions, marking a transition from academic work to senior responsibilities in public life.
She later became one of the leading figures in Kosovo’s academic establishment. In 2016, she was elected a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences and Arts of Kosovo, and in 2020 became a full academician.
Before her election as President, Shiroka-Pula served as President of ASHAK, where she was involved in strengthening cooperation between the Academy and Kosovo’s universities and economic institutions.
During the final months before her move to the Presidency, she took part in a series of institutional and academic initiatives, including cooperation with “Kadri Zeka” University and the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce.
A different path to the Presidency
Shiroka-Pula’s election represents a different route to Kosovo’s highest office. Rather than emerging from a long career in party politics, she arrives at the Presidency after decades in academia, public institutions and the country’s highest scientific body.
Her background as an economist, university professor and academician gives her a profile distinct from many of Kosovo’s political leaders.
The move from ASHAK to the Presidency marks the latest and most consequential chapter in a career that began in the classrooms of the University of Pristina more than four decades ago.
Now, Shiroka-Pula faces a new responsibility: representing the Republic of Kosovo as its President and serving as head of the country’s highest state institution.