{{Short description|Kosovar politician and military commander}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = Rrustem Berisha | native_name = | native_name_lang = | honorific_suffix = | image = | alt = | order = | office = Minister of Defense of Kosovo | term_start = 9 September 2017 | term_end = 3 February 2020 | president = Hashim Thaçi | prime_minister = Ramush Haradinaj | deputy = | predecessor = Haki Demolli | successor = Anton Quni | order2 = | office2 = Member of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo | term_start2 = 2014 | term_end2 = September 2017 | birth_name = Rrustem Berisha | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1965|3|2|df=y}} | birth_place = Doberdol, Peć, SFR Yugoslavia (modern-day Peja, Kosovo) | party = Alliance for the Future of Kosovo | spouse = | children = 4 | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = Politician and military officer | profession = | signature = Rrustem Berisha (nënshkrim).svg | cabinet = | nickname = | allegiance = {{flag|Yugoslavia}}<br />{{flag|Croatia}}<br />{{flag|Republic of Kosova|name=Kosova}} | branch = {{army|Yugoslavia}}<br />{{army|Croatia}}<br />{{armed forces|Republic of Kosova}}<ref>https://www.botasot.info/aktuale-lajme/1070275/nasim-haradinaj-agim-ramadani-sali-ceku-e-rrustem-berisha-ishin-njerezit-e-deshperuar-te-fark-ut/</ref><br />{{army|Republic of Kosova}}<br />{{flagicon image|Flag of the Kosovo Protection Corps.svg}} Kosovo Protection Corps<br />{{army|Kosovo}} | service_years = 1984–1991, 1991–1995, 1998–2015 | rank = | unit = KSF Rapid Reaction Brigade | commands = | battles = Croatian War of Independence<br />Kosovo War *Battle of Košare *Operation Fenix | mawards = }} '''Rrustem Berisha''' (born 2 March 1965) is a Kosovar politician and military officer. He was Minister of Defense in Haradinaj cabinet. During the Yugoslav Wars, he fought in the Croatian War of Independence and the Kosovo War. He was a commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the Battle of Košare.
==Early life and education== Rrustem Berisha was born in Doberdol, Peć, Yugoslavia on 2 March 1965.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718>{{cite web |url=http://mksf-ks.org/?page=2,700 |title=Rrustem Berisha – Minister of the Ministry for the Kosovo Security Force |author=<!--Not stated--> |publisher=Ministry for the Kosovo Security Forces |access-date=18 July 2018 }}</ref> From 1980 to 1984, Berisha attended a military high school in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/>
==Career== After graduating from military school, Berisha served in the Yugoslav People's Army. From 1984 to 1985, Berisha served as a platoon commander in Karlovac.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/> From 1985 to 1988, Berisha attended a military school in Sarajevo to train to be an officer.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/>
From 1988 to 1991, after graduation to a Yugoslav People's Army officer, Berisha served as a company commander in Delnice, Croatia, which was then part of Yugoslavia.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/>
From 1991 to 1992, Berisha fought in the Croatian War of Independence on the side of the Croatians.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/>
From 1998 to 1999, Berisha was a member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/><ref name=BI_Conviction_20180719>{{cite news |last=Nikolic |first=Ivana |date=17 February 2016 |title=Kosovo Ex-Guerrillas Convicted of Yugoslav Army Killings |url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/kosovo-ex-guerillas-jailed-for-kosare-crimes-02-17-2016 |work=Balkan Insight |access-date=19 July 2018}}</ref> In this time he fought in the Dukagjini region of Kosovo.<ref>{{cite book |last=Perritt |first=Henry H. |date=2008 |title=Kosovo Liberation Army: The Inside Story of an Insurgency |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SlHqkxGk4Q8C&dq |publisher=University of Illinois Press |page=66 |isbn=978-0-252-03342-1 |lccn=2007046798 }}</ref>
In 1999, following the disarmament of the KLA, Berisha joined the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC).<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/> From 1999 to 2002, he served as the Chief of Staff of the KPC's Second Defense Zone.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/>
From 2002 to 2009, Berisha directed the Hamëz Jashari military academy.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/>
In 2009, Berisha was named the Deputy Commander of the Rapid Reaction Brigade of the newly formed Kosovo Security Force (KSF).<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/> The KSF was a relatively new entity at the time, having come into existence on 21 January 2009.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=21 January 2009|title=Kosovo's security force launched |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7841789.stm |work=BBC |access-date=20 July 2018}}</ref> Berisha continued in this position until 2014.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/>
=== Politics=== In 2013, Berisha entered politics, joining the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo. That year, he became a member of the AFK's governing council and its presidency.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/>
In 2014, Berisha ran for a seat in the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo and won. He became a member of the Assembly's Committee on Rights, Interests of Communities and Returns and the Committee for Economic Development.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/> He also became the Vice Chairperson of Oversight Committee for Kosovo Intelligence Agency.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/>
In February 2016, a Serbian court convicted Berisha and seven other former KLA soldiers ''in absentia'' of acts of terrorism for attacks on soldiers of the Yugoslav army in September 1998.<ref name=BI_Conviction_20180719/> Before the trial ended, Berisha questioned the credibility of the indictment and the allegations on which it was based.<ref name=BI_Conviction_20180719/>
Berisha was reelected to the Assembly in the 2017 elections in Kosovo.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/>
On 9 September 2017, Berisha was appointed the Minister of the Kosovo Security Force.<ref name=OfficialBio_Eng_20180718/> He replaced Haki Demolli.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://jfcnaples.nato.int/kfor/media-center/archive/news/2017/comkfor-met-the-new-minister-of-ksf |title=COMKFOR met the new Minister of KSF |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=5 October 2017 |publisher=European Western Balkans |access-date=19 July 2018 }}</ref>
As minister for the security force, Berisha worked towards closer cooperation between the Albanian Armed Forces and the Kosovo Security Force.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://europeanwesternbalkans.com/2017/10/05/kosovo-albania-cooperation-field-defence/ |title=Kosovo and Albania – Cooperation in the field of defence |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=27 September 2017 |publisher=NATO Kosovo Force |access-date=20 July 2018 }}</ref>
== References == {{reflist|2}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berisha, Rrustem}} Category:1965 births Category:20th-century Albanian military personnel Category:20th-century Albanian people Category:Alliance for the Future of Kosovo politicians Category:Defence ministers of Kosovo Category:Kosovo Albanians Category:Kosovo Liberation Army soldiers Category:Living people Category:Members of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo