The Anthem of the Republic of Kosovo was composed by Mendi Mengjiqi. As with the national anthems of Bosnia and Herzegovina, San Marino, and Spain, it has no official lyrics, but de facto lyrics are in use. It was adopted on 11 June 2008. It was chosen because it contained no references to any specific ethnic group. It was selected by the Assembly of Kosovo, with 72 MPs voting in favor, while 15 voted against, and five abstained.

History

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

Proposed lyrics

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 government of the Republic of Kosovo decided to do this as a mark of respect to the European Union for its efforts on helping in gaining independence. It remained in use as a de facto national anthem until the official anthem was adopted a few weeks later.

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 state anthem of the unrecognized Republic of Kosova that existed from 1990 until 1999, when Kosovo was placed under the control of the United Nations.

Kur ka ra kushtrimi n'Kosovë

"Kur ka ra kushtrimi n'Kosovë", an Albanian language song composed by Rauf Dhomi, was unsuccessfully proposed for state anthem by former President of Kosovo Ibrahim Rugova in 2000.