Europe is the national Anthem of the Republic of Kosovo. It was composed by Mendi Mengjiqi. The anthem has no lyrics. It was adopted on 11 June 2008. It was chosen because it reflected the multi-ethnic character of Kosovo. It was elected by the Assembly of Kosovo, with 72 MPs voted in favor of the selected composition, while fifteen voted against, and five abstained.

Competition for the anthem

On 12 March 2008 the Assembly of Kosovo announced an open contest to choose the anthem in Pristina newspapers and on the official website of the Assembly. The rules include:

• "Composition should be distinguishable: - should be unique and original"
• "Length of the composition shouldn’t last less than 30 seconds and more than 60 seconds."
• "Texts can be included as well in the application, in any official language of Republic of Kosovo" however, the final adoption is believed not to include them. 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 emphasized that no ethnic group should be discriminated, declaring the state a "democratic, secular and multiethnic republic thus making it difficult to find lyrics that do not favor one ethnic group over another one. Similar problems were encountered when choosing the flag. Furthermore, the rules also state that the proposal "Shouldn’t 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."
• The proposals must be submitted by 31 March 2008.
• The composer of the adopted piece will be awarded €10,000 and two other qualified proposals will receive €7,000 and €5,000.

Other anthem candidates

Ode to Joy

"Ode to Joy", the anthem of the European Union, 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.

Himni i Flamurit

"Himni i Flamurit", the national anthem of Albania has been widely used in Kosovo with other Albanian national symbols. It was also the anthem of the unrecognized Republic of Kosova that existed from 1990 until 2000 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 anthem in 2000. However, no decision was made back then. The anthem has lyrics in the Albanian language.

References

External links

• The website "Who Recognized Kosovo?" features a midi version of the new anthem.
• Complete official rules of the competition
• Reuters video news report about the competition