Kosovo Approves Anthem with No Lyrics

Seventy-two members of parliament voted in favour of the selected composition while fifteen voted against and five abstained.

Most of the parliamentary groups said they listened to all three shortlisted proposals but opted for the composition called ‘Europe’ by Mehdi Mengjiqi, which has no lyrics as it would respect the multi-ethnic nature of Kosovo.

The opposition party, New Kosova Alliance, AKR issued a statement earlier on Wednesday criticising the procedure for selecting the anthem shortlist and said that their representative to the commission for state symbols had refused to be part of the anthem selection.

“The AKR considers there were numerous violations in the procedures,” their statement says.

Other opposition members of parliament also criticised the procedure for selecting the proposals as non-transparent and said there was no debate with the general public.
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However during Wednesday’s session, the AKR leader Behgjet Pacolli said despite the criticism, he will support the anthem which will be a symbol of the new state.

“I believe other deputies from AKR will vote in favour as well,” he said.

Another opposition member, Ardian Gjini from the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, AAK said “there is no need for the anthem to be called ‘Europe’ but it must be simply be called the Anthem of the Republic of Kosovo.”

The majority of Kosovar Albanians sang the national Albanian anthem at most previous events but following Pristina’s declaration of independence, Kosovo’s new state symbols must respect its multi-ethnicity, as is the case with Kosovo’s new flag, whose six white stars represent each community living there.