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What Kosovo Can Teach the World About Freedom | Vjosa Osmani Sadriu | TED
What Kosovo Can Teach the World About Freedom | Vjosa Osmani Sadriu | TED
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0:04
Angus Hervey: President Osmani, thank you so much for joining us.
0:07
Vjosa Osmani Sadriu: Thank you so much for having me.
0:09
It's a great honor.
0:11
AH: You've just left office under circumstances you didn't choose,
0:14
and you're not alone.
0:15
Democracy right now looks like it's losing ground everywhere
0:18
against populism, against cynicism, against sheer exhaustion.
0:22
What lessons has this experience taught you
0:25
about what it actually takes to build and sustain democracy?
0:29
VOS: I'd like to say that the lessons that I've learned
0:32
don't only belong to my mandate as president.
0:36
I continue to learn as we speak.
0:38
I learned a lot today by listening to the previous speakers,
0:41
and I learned a lot throughout my life, growing up as a child of war,
0:46
as you mentioned at the introduction.
0:49
We grew up together with all the children of Kosovo
0:51
under a system of oppression,
0:53
which started as an apartheid-like regime
0:57
and ended as a genocidal war.
1:00
Growing up in that system
1:02
where everything is taken away from you,
1:04
from your childhood to the right to go to school,
1:07
to your parents' right to go to work,
1:10
at that time, just, you know,
1:12
going out and playing as children meant that it was an act of quiet resistance.
1:18
But at the same time, as a nation that today is thriving in many senses,
1:23
but especially in terms of democracy,
1:25
despite crises that we're facing right now,
1:28
we've learned that oftentimes
1:31
the line that stands between a child of war
1:35
and a leader of peace
1:37
is an opportunity.
1:40
The opportunity to live,
1:42
to survive, first and foremost,
1:44
and then the opportunity to thrive.
1:46
And this opportunity was given to us by people who believe in humanity,
1:53
people who never gave up on human values, even against all odds,
1:59
whether it was political and military leaders who came to our rescue
2:02
and did not turn a blind eye on our suffering
2:04
and came to save our lives,
2:06
democracies around the world
2:07
who joined to save those values of freedom and human rights or,
2:11
you know, leaders in churches and mosques
2:15
who opened their hearts and minds
2:17
and joined communities together
2:19
so that we can have some humanitarian support.
2:23
And practically, it's this that shaped me
2:27
to the leader that I was for the past five years,
2:30
a leader for peace,
2:32
because I knew that while I was leading my country,
2:34
no matter how small my country is,
2:36
we could have a powerful voice in the world.
2:40
That voice that is going to speak up against oppression,
2:46
against autocracies,
2:47
against genocidal regimes,
2:50
and make sure that we become the voice of that child
2:53
who today is standing on the line,
2:56
on the line to survive,
2:58
but also in the line for food to survive
3:01
because we were there --
3:03
I mean, a few decades ago.
3:05
And today we are given the opportunity
3:07
to give that contribution for peace.
3:10
These past five years have not just been years of leading my country
3:15
defending democracy,
3:17
but at the same time,
3:18
speaking for those who don't have a voice right now.
3:22
Because once we did not have a voice,
3:24
and there were people around the world,
3:27
whether political leaders or leaders in their communities
3:31
or just ordinary people who joined to help us,
3:34
who became our voice when we did not have one.
3:37
So that's the lesson that I've learned,
3:39
that no matter how small you are as a country,
3:43
it is not just the political or military
3:46
or economic might that defines your strength.
3:50
I think after all, it's the strength of your story.
3:53
You just need to have the courage to tell it.
3:57
AH: Kosovo --
3:58
(Applause)
4:01
is a tiny country -- you just said this.
4:04
Fewer than two million people.
4:05
But under your presidency,
4:07
it secured visa-free travel to Europe and applied for EU membership.
4:10
So you've been in the rooms where those big decisions get made.
4:13
You have an insider’s perspective that none of us know
4:17
or have access to.
4:18
What do you see
4:21
when you watch the world's geopolitical tensions playing out right now?
4:26
VOS: I see a lot of devastation, obviously.
4:29
We're all seeing how there are too many conflicts, too many wars,
4:34
too much suffering happening right now.
4:36
But at the same time,
4:37
when I sit around those rooms
4:39
and join world leaders where these decisions are made,
4:43
we try to make an impact.
4:45
We try to make an impact by sharing our story
4:47
because, as I said,
4:50
politics on one side or geopolitics, if we're trying to talk bigger,
4:54
it's not just about military and economic might,
4:58
it's about doing things right.
5:01
And we've heard, and we're hearing nowadays,
5:04
so many stories about suffering,
5:06
about pain, about things going wrong,
5:08
about things being destroyed.
5:11
But at the same time,
5:12
it is important that we share success stories,
5:15
and Kosovo is one such success story.
5:18
It shows what democracies can achieve when they stand together for values,
5:23
when they stand together in defense of freedom
5:25
and against autocracies
5:26
and against some of the crazy, genocidal minds
5:31
that we had to live under.
5:33
And at the same time,
5:35
it shows that even when you live under oppression,
5:39
there's nothing,
5:40
nothing that can stand in the way of a people that wants to be free.
5:46
It takes years --
5:47
(Applause)
5:51
It takes years, it takes decades.
5:54
In the case of our nation, it took centuries.
5:57
We had to live occupied and under oppression for century after century.
6:03
But we never gave up on our identity.
6:05
We never gave up on our quest for freedom.
6:08
And ultimately, we became free,
6:10
and just sharing that story of success
6:14
is so important in these rooms
6:16
in order to also change mindsets among countries
6:20
that are so much bigger than ours
6:22
and to also convince them to act,
6:25
to make sure that they save lives,
6:27
to make sure that they put values in front of everything else.
6:30
Because sometimes standing on the right side of history,
6:34
it's the most difficult decision.
6:36
It’s not convenient for the moment,
6:38
but long-term, it is what humanity needs right now.
6:41
So it's very important for us to be in those rooms,
6:44
to raise our voices, to speak up,
6:46
but also to be heard and to have an impact
6:49
on how these decisions are made today
6:52
that may not impact necessarily my country very much,
6:56
but they do impact humanity at the much larger level.
6:59
And we need to make sure that we are part of those decisions.
7:04
AH: OK, I want to pick up on something you said there,
7:07
which is about being in those rooms
7:08
and when you have a decision that conflicts,
7:11
what do you do when your own personal moral values
7:14
rub up against a strategic geopolitical decision that you need to make?
7:18
How do you figure out which way to go?
7:22
VOS: You fight, that's what you do.
7:23
You have to fight.
7:25
You have to fight your way through
7:27
and try to use a very dynamic diplomacy
7:33
to convince other leaders to find a way that can protect both,
7:38
that can protect moral values on one side,
7:41
but at the same time,
7:42
make sure that enough countries think
7:45
that that is also strategically in their interest,
7:47
so that these decisions can be made
7:50
in a way that can better the societies and better human values
7:53
and protect human values.
7:55
It’s not easy, and we don’t always win.
7:57
We don't always win.
7:58
There are times
8:00
when not necessarily moral values are the ones who win.
8:03
It's other interests that come beforehand.
8:06
But that doesn't mean that we have to stop.
8:09
And when this happens,
8:11
I'm always reminded of the resilience of my nation,
8:14
the resilience that our people showed,
8:16
because resilience oftentimes is not just about surviving.
8:20
It's also about thriving after you're given the chance to survive.
8:25
And this is the story of Kosovo.
8:26
It's a story of survivors who thrive.
8:29
It's about not giving up.
8:31
It's about continuing to fight because you know how much is at stake.
8:34
And you know how many people around the world have their hopes
8:38
on those decisions that are made in those rooms.
8:41
And you know, when I would visit the United Nations
8:44
or when I would visit the European Parliament
8:46
and other institutions,
8:47
I shared with leaders how, as a child, we were sheltering in mountains,
8:52
we were sheltering from the shelling and the bombing
8:55
and the people who were trying to come and kill us.
8:57
And we had that little radio with batteries,
9:02
and we were listening to these meetings and these speeches,
9:06
hoping, hoping that someone would come and save our lives.
9:12
And it's so important, when I sit in that chair,
9:16
when I sit in those big meeting rooms with leaders,
9:19
that I never forget that.
9:21
That there is a child, there are millions of children around the world
9:25
who are now listening to today's leaders,
9:28
hoping that someone would not turn a blind eye on their suffering.
9:33
And it's about continuously, continuously fighting and never giving up.
9:37
(Applause)
9:39
AH: OK, we're at TED.
9:41
So it wouldn't be TED if we didn't ask a question about AI.
9:46
We hear a lot these days about what AI might do to society,
9:50
but for you, these questions aren't theoretical.
9:52
I mean, they are a very real fight over truth.
9:55
What's been your own personal experience of this?
10:00
VOS: It hasn't been a good one, I have to say this,
10:03
and especially if we're looking at the past couple of days
10:06
after I finished my mandate, which I just finished.
10:09
Actually, this is my first international activity
10:11
after finishing my mandate as the sixth president of Kosovo.
10:16
But it was important for me to not miss this one.
10:21
It hasn't been a good one because in politics,
10:25
obviously you have to be prepared for everything.
10:28
But we're living at a time when they can clone your voice,
10:31
clone videos of you,
10:33
make pictures of you that never actually took place,
10:37
of meetings that never took place,
10:39
of conversations that never took place.
10:41
And this changes the entire narrative,
10:44
because, look, I honestly believe
10:47
that the truth is the real oxygen for democracy.
10:52
So when you're undermining truth,
10:55
you're undermining democracy itself,
10:58
which obviously is not perfect.
10:59
It can be messy, it can be painfully slow sometimes.
11:03
But the opposite of it is destruction,
11:05
is pain, is suffering.
11:07
And we've lived the opposite of democracy,
11:09
which is why we're so resilient in protecting it.
11:12
And it requires a day-after-day protection and fight to keep it alive.
11:18
So I think the way how AI is abused nowadays
11:23
is extremely dangerous for democracies worldwide,
11:27
which is why it requires education so that we have people
11:32
who are digitally prepared to differentiate
11:37
between what is, you know, made through AI
11:40
and what is actually true
11:42
for the people who are involved in decision-making in our daily lives.
11:46
And secondly, it requires systems that don't necessarily overregulate
11:51
so that they can block the use of AI
11:53
for the betterment of society and humanity,
11:56
whether it's in medicine or in saving lives
11:58
or doing much of the stuff
12:00
that we've heard from the previous speakers today.
12:03
But at the same time,
12:04
it allows people to defend truth
12:07
because if we don't find instruments that will defend truth,
12:11
ultimately, everything that we can use AI for,
12:15
which is good,
12:17
will be diminished,
12:18
in terms of their impact
12:22
if we do not defend truth.
12:24
And especially in democracies, this is crucial.
12:27
Because if propaganda is going to overcome truth,
12:32
we're going to have populism, we're going to have extremism.
12:35
We're not going to have the human values
12:37
which kept us together during the most difficult times prevail,
12:41
but we're going to have lies that can prevail.
12:45
And that is very easy in the digital age,
12:47
unless we invest in systems that can educate people
12:51
to differentiate between what was actually made artificially
12:55
and what the true story of the people that are going to represent you is.
13:01
(Applause)
13:07
AH: You're a Muslim,
13:09
but you recently went back to a church
13:11
where your family was sheltered during the war,
13:13
and the pastor who hid you was there.
13:15
You've also just received the Bonifacio VIII prize
13:18
at the Vatican,
13:19
which was an award previously given to Pope John Paul II.
13:23
What does that tell us about what's still possible?
13:27
VOS: I think it tells us that we should not let hate prevail.
13:33
As I said, we’ve lived under oppression,
13:35
and we went through a genocidal war.
13:38
In Kosovo, the biggest massacre that was committed by the Milošević regime
13:42
was a massacre against Catholics.
13:44
But then if you look at every other village, every other town,
13:48
they killed Muslims.
13:49
So they killed everyone, no matter their religion,
13:52
because it wasn't about religious differences.
13:56
It was about human differences
13:59
in the sense that you either believe in human values or not.
14:03
You either believe in the right of someone else to live,
14:06
whether they pick one religion or not.
14:10
And in Kosovo, we've seen how these human values prevailed.
14:13
We've seen cases where mosques sheltered Catholics,
14:17
and we've seen cases where churches sheltered Muslims.
14:21
And yes, my family and I were Muslim,
14:25
but we were sheltered in a church when, you know,
14:28
the Milošević regime was trying to kill us.
14:30
And just a few days ago,
14:32
I participated in the funeral of a pastor,
14:35
Dom Kelmend Spaqi,
14:37
who sheltered hundreds and hundreds of civilians
14:40
of different religions.
14:42
And when the Serbian police went to his church
14:44
and asked him to give up on those people,
14:47
he said, "No, if you're going to kill someone,
14:50
you have to kill me first."
14:52
And he stood between those police officers
14:56
of that genocidal regime
14:58
and civilians of different religions on the other side,
15:01
showing that an act of courage,
15:03
an act of humanity is bigger than any oppressor,
15:07
is bigger than any regime.
15:08
And for us as a nation,
15:10
this has been a value that we've defended for centuries.
15:13
Even during World War II,
15:16
our nation gave an example of what we call “besa.”
15:22
It's a code of promise.
15:23
When you promise to protect someone,
15:26
you do it with your life.
15:27
And our nation is the only place on Earth
15:30
where the number of Jews after World War II
15:33
was higher after the war than before the war,
15:37
because we protected them with our lives.
15:40
(Applause)
15:42
It's a case where we've shown not just tolerance,
15:47
but respect for the values of each other,
15:51
no matter which religion you belong to.
15:53
It's humanity that should prevail,
15:55
it's respect for each other.
15:56
And today in Kosovo, you have families
15:59
where one brother is a Catholic, the other one is a Muslim.
16:02
This has never differentiated us because we've put these values
16:06
of respect and humanity before everything else.
16:10
And we're very, very proud of that.
16:12
And we hope to have these kind of values also in other countries,
16:18
as I think it can save lives
16:21
the same way that it has saved lives in Kosovo.
16:26
It hasn't divided us.
16:28
And I think
16:31
it is important that we give that example to other people in the world as well.
16:37
AH: President Osmani, thank you for joining us.
16:40
We know that this is a tumultuous time
16:42
and that the future is unclear and uncertain.
16:45
But we're so grateful that you appeared here on the TED stage
16:48
and shared with us.
16:49
VOS: Thank you so much.
16:51
The future ...
16:53
It's important that we have a future.
16:56
So many people around the world don't know whether they do.
17:00
There's always that child that is still standing on the line
17:03
and waiting for that opportunity.
17:06
And let’s not forget that that child of war today,
17:10
whether in Ukraine or in Gaza or somewhere in Africa,
17:14
can be the leader of peace tomorrow
17:16
if we together give them that opportunity.
17:20
Thank you.
17:21
(Applause)
