“Kosovo is an American victory,” said Osmani. “It’s a testament to what democracies achieve when they stand together for the balance of freedom.”
Osmani, as well as Dame Karen Pierce, former U.K. Ambassador to the United States and Special Envoy to the Western Balkans, were panelists at the “The Dayton Dialogue: Conversations about Peace and Security in the Balkans.”
Kosovo, a nation of the Western Balkans, declared independence from Serbia in 2008. Before then, Osmani said NATO and the United States helped her country reclaim its freedom.
Hundreds of thousands of civilians were killed under the regime of Slobodan Milošević. Osmani said Kosovo’s children today are the first generation in her country’s history to know what peace is like.
“It’s a country where democracy is flourishing, a country where human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, no matter their ethnicity, are the most important pillars of our governments, and a country that moves forward in a very clear strategic objective, which is Euro Atlantic integration,” she said.
Hayden Larson, a student at Valley View High School, said he attended Sunday’s panel because he is interested in history and wants to study political science after he graduates.
“I think what stood out to me was just the message of cooperation, and how cooperation can lead to peace,” he said.
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