Europe (anthem)

"Europe" is the national anthem of Kosovo.[a][1] It was composed by Mendi Mengjiqi. As with the national anthems of Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and San Marino,[2][3] it has no official lyrics, but unofficial lyrics have been written for it. It was adopted on 11 June 2008.[4] It was chosen because it contained no references to any specific ethnic group.[5] It was selected by the Assembly of Kosovo, with 72 MPs voting in favor, while 15 voted against and five abstained.[6]

This article is about the anthem of Kosovo. For the anthem of Europe/the European Union, see Anthem of Europe.
Europe
National anthem of  Kosovo
Also known as"Himni i Republikës së Kosovës" (English: "Anthem of the Republic of Kosovo")
"Evropa" (English: "Europe")
MusicMendi Mengjiqi, 2008
Adopted11 June 2008 (2008-06-11)
Audio sample
"Europe"
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History

On 12 March 2008 the Assembly of Kosovo announced an open contest to choose a national anthem anthem for the country in Pristina's newspapers[7] and on the official website of the Assembly.[6] The rules include:

  • "Composition should be distinguishable: – should be unique and original"[6]
  • "Length of the composition should not last less than 30 seconds or more than 60 seconds."[6]
  • "Texts can be included as well in the application, in any official language of the Republic of Kosovo"[6] however, the final adoption is believed not to include them.[8] Choosing the text for the anthem would have been a difficult task because the majority of the population in Kosovo are Albanians, Serbs being the second largest ethnic group. The government has emphasised that no ethnic group should be discriminated against, declaring the state a "democratic, secular and multiethnic republic"[9] thus making it difficult to find lyrics that do not favour one ethnic group over another one. Similar problems were encountered when choosing the flag.[10] Furthermore, the rules also state that the proposal "Should not present or be similar to the hymn or popular song of any country, or hymn of any political party, movement or Institution of Republic of Kosovo, or to implicate any faithfulness towards any ethnic community of Republic of Kosovo."[6]
  • The proposals must be submitted by 31 March 2008.[6]
  • The composer of the adopted piece will be awarded €10,000 and two other qualified proposals will receive €7,000 and €5,000.[6]

Proposed lyrics
Albanian (Gheg Albanian)Serbian (Cyrillic)Serbian (Latin)English translation

O mëmëdhe i dashur, vend i trimnisë
Çerdhe e dashurisë
N`ty shqipet fluturojnë dhe yjet ndriçojnë
Vend i të parëve tonë

Ti qofsh bekue për jetë e mot
O nënë e jonë
Ne të dalim Zot

O mëmëdhe i dashur, vend i trimnisë
Çerdhe e dashurisë

О, мила домовино, земљо храбрости
Гнездо љубави
Око тебе орлови лете и звезде сијају
Земљо наших предака

Буди благословена за живот и године
О, наша мајко
Ми ћемо те заштити

О, мила домовино, земљо храбрости
Гнездо љубави

O, mila domovino, zemljo hrabrosti
Gnezdo ljubavi
Oko tebe orlovi lete i zvezde sijaju
Zemljo naših predaka

Budi blagoslovena za život i godine
O, naša majko
Mi ćemo te zaštiti

O, mila domovino, zemljo hrabrosti
Gnezdo ljubavi

O beloved motherland, land of bravery
Nest of love
On you eagles fly and stars shine
Land of our ancestors

Be thou blessed for life and years
O our mother
We will protect you

O beloved motherland, land of bravery
Nest of love

Other anthem candidates

Ode to Joy

"Ode to Joy", the European continental anthem, was played at the official declaration ceremonies of the Republic of Kosovo. The Kosovo interim government decided to do this as a mark of respect to the European Union for its efforts on helping in gaining independence.[11]

Himni i Flamurit

"Himni i Flamurit", the national anthem of Albania, has been widely used in Kosovo with other Albanian national symbols.[12] It was also the state anthem of the unrecognized Republic of Kosova that existed from 1990 until 1999 when the province was taken into the control of the United Nations.

Kur ka ra kushtrimi n'Kosovë

"Kur ka ra kushtrimi n'Kosovë", a song composed by Rauf Dhomi, was proposed by the former President of Kosovo, Ibrahim Rugova, as the state anthem in 2000. However, no decision was made back then. The anthem has lyrics in the Albanian language.[13]

Notes
a.   ^ Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the 2013 Brussels Agreement. Kosovo is currently recognized as an independent state by 97 out of the 193 United Nations member states. In total, 112 UN member states recognized Kosovo at some point, of which 15 later withdrew their recognition.

References
  1. "Kosovo Parliament Adopts National Hymn" novinite.com 11 June 2008 Link accessed 11/06/08
  2. "Kosovo parliament approves new national anthem" rian.ru 11 June 2008 Link accessed 11/06/08
  3. "Kosovo MPs choose national anthem" bbc.co.uk 11 June 2008 Link accessed 11/06/08
  4. "Kosovo Gets National Anthem" redorbit.com 11 June 2008 Link accessed 11/06/08
  5. "Kosovo adopts wordless national anthem". Hürriyet. Reuters. 2008-06-11. Retrieved 2009-03-28.
  6. "Assembly approves Kosovo anthem" b92.net 11 June 2008 Link accessed 11/06/08
  7. "Kosovo seeks own national anthem". BBC. 2008-03-12. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
  8. "BalkanInsight.com – Kosovo Searches New National Anthem". Balkan Insight. 2008-03-12. Archived from the original on 2008-03-13. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
  9. "Full text: Kosovo declaration". BBC. 2008-02-17. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  10. "Competition for the flag and emblem of Kosovo" (PDF). Express. 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-10-21. Retrieved 2008-03-29.
  11. "Kosovo declares independence - USATODAY.com". USA Today. 2008-02-17. Retrieved 2008-03-12.
  12. "Kosovo ja contest for state symbols". BBC. 2007-06-04. Retrieved 2008-03-11.
  13. "Himni i Kosovës". Trepca.net. 2002-12-23. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
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