Veton Surroi | |
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Born | |
Citizenship | Kosovo |
Veton Surroi (born 17 July 1961) is a Kosovar Albanian publicist, politician and former journalist. Surroi is the founder and former leader of the ORA political party, [1] and was a member of Kosovo assembly from 2004 to 2008. [2]
Veton Surroi studied Modern English Language and Literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). [3] He worked as a journalist in the Albanian language daily Rilindja . In 1989, he was one the founders of the Association for the Yugoslav Democratic Initiative and the first independent trade unions in Kosovo. [4] In 1990, he founded and became editor-in-chief of the independent Koha weekly. From 1991-92, he was president of the Parliamentary Party of Kosovo. [4]
In 1997, Surroi established one of the biggest Kosovo Albanian daily newspapers Koha Ditore and was the editor-in-chief for a number of years before he entered politics in Kosovo. [2] Surroi's father, Rexhai Surroi, was one of the very few Albanians to become ambassadors of the former Yugoslavia. [5] His father was the Yugoslav ambassador to Spain and a number of Latin American countries. As a result, Surroi spent a part of his life in the Spanish-speaking world where he was also educated.
Surroi is a polyglot, speaking four languages, namely Albanian, English, Serbian and Spanish.
Surroi won the 2011 SEEMO Human Rights Award. [6]
The Rambouillet Agreement, formally the Interim Agreement for Peace and Self-Government in Kosovo, was a proposed peace agreement between the delegation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the Republic of Serbia on the one hand and the delegation of political representatives of the ethnic Albanian majority population of Kosovo on the other. It was drafted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and named for the Château de Rambouillet, where it was initially proposed in early 1999. Among other things, the accords called for 30,000 NATO peacekeeping troops in Kosovo; an unhindered right of passage for NATO troops on Yugoslav territory; and immunity for NATO and its agents to Yugoslav law. The Kosovo Albanian side signed the agreement on 18 March 1999, however the refusal of the Yugoslav and Serbian side to sign the accords led to the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia.
Rahovec or Orahovac, is a town and municipality located in the District of Gjakova in western Kosovo. According to the 2011 census, the town of Rahovec has 15,892 inhabitants, while the municipality has 56,208 inhabitants.
The Democratic League of Kosovo is the oldest and one of the largest political parties in Kosovo.
The politics of Kosovo takes place in a framework of a multi-party parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the President (Presidenti) is the head of state and the Prime Minister (Kryeministri) the head of government. Parliamentary elections are held every four years, the most recent in 2021.
Oliver Vujović is a Yugoslav, German and Austrian former journalist, co-founder and today Secretary General of the international press freedom group South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO).
Koha Ditore is the leading daily newspaper in Kosovo. It is published by Koha Group and was founded and owned by politician Veton Surroi. His sister Flaka Surroi is now the publisher, following Veton Surroi's launch of his political career within the ORA reformist party. The newspaper initially published as a weekly magazine Koha, that ran from 1992 to 1994, becoming a leading weekly magazine in Kosovo. The initial team included new generation of opinion-makers such as Ylber Hysa, Baton Haxhiu, Dukagjin Gorani, Eqrem Basha, Shkelzen Maliqi, etc. The newspaper with the same name was published for the first time in 1997. Its current editor in chief is Agron Bajrami.
Rexhai Surroi was a Yugoslav Albanian journalist, diplomat and writer.
South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO) is a regional non-governmental, non-profit network of editors, media executives and leading journalists in Southeast, South, East and Central Europe. The organization aims to create a bridge between international media activities and the media developments in the region. It has headquarters and national committees in several countries. In total 33 member states or territories are included in SEEMO.
Fadil Hoxha was a Yugoslavian ethnic-Albanian communist revolutionary and politician from Kosovo. He was a member of the Communist Party and fought in the Yugoslav Partisans during World War II. After the war, he was the first President of the Executive Council of the Autonomous Region of Kosovo and Metohija (1945–1963) and later member of the Presidency of Yugoslavia (1974–1984).
Kohavision is a Kosovan free-to-air television channel launched on September 21, 2000. It was founded by politician and journalist Veton Surroi as part of KOHA Group, a media house currently led by Flaka Surroi. Its programming is centered towards news, with Koha e Lajmeve being the most watched news edition in the country. The broadcaster shares its press staff with the Koha Ditore, a daily newspaper. Kohavision also runs Arta News, a 24-hour news and documentary channel. In October 2, 2024 the official YouTube channel of this television got terminated.
Bota Sot is a daily newspaper in Kosovo, originally published by members of the Kosovo diaspora in Switzerland.
Dukagjin Gorani (Albanian) Dukađin Gorani) is a journalist and media expert from Kosovo. Born in Pejë, he became one of the founders of weekly Koha in 1993, and was the first editor of Koha Ditore daily. He was one of the founders and first Editor-in-chief of the Daily Express.
Baton Haxhiu is a Kosovo Albanian columnist and journalist who has worked for media such as Koha Ditore, Gazeta Express, Klan Kosova and ABC News Albania. He now works for Euronews Albania and is the general director of Albanian Post.
Flaka Surroi is a notable Kosovo-Albanian publisher. She comes from the family of Kosovo politician and diplomat Rexhai Surroi, and is a sibling of Veton Surroi, a Kosovan politician. She finished her high school in Mexico, where her father was serving as an ambassador, and graduated at University of Pristina.
Bardhyl Ajeti[a] was a reporter for the Albanian-language daily newspaper Bota Sot, published in Prishtina. He wrote daily editorials for Bota Sot and supported anticrime campaign of international authorities in arresting former members of the Kosova Liberation Army (KLA). Bota Sot also supported Ibrahim Rugova, a leader of ethnic Albanian party, the Democratic League of Kosovo.
Agron Bajrami is the editor of and a writer for Koha Ditore newspaper, the largest daily newspaper in Kosovo. He filled various journalistic and editing positions at the newspaper since its establishment in 1997, and took over as editor in chief in September 2004 after its former editor and publisher, Veton Surroi, departed for politics. Bajrami is also a member of the board of South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), head of the Kosovo Media Institute, and a regular columnist for Montenegrin daily newspaper Vijesti. Agron Bajrami has a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Pristina. He speaks several languages, including: Albanian, English, Serbian and German.
The mass media in Kosovo consists of different kinds of communicative media such as radio, television, newspapers, and internet web sites. Most of the media survive from advertising and subscriptions.
Arbana Xharra is a Kosovar Albanian investigative journalist. She has won numerous awards for her reporting and was a 2015 recipient of the International Women of Courage Award from the US State Department.
Veli Deva was a senior communist leader in Kosovo under the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.