Veton Surroi

Veton Surroi (born 17 July 1961) is a Kosovar Albanian publicist, politician and former journalist. Surroi is the founder and former leader of the ORA political party,^[1] and was a member of Kosovo assembly from 2004 to 2008.^[2]

Veton Surroi
Veton Surroi in 2015.
Born	(1961-07-17) 17 July 1961 (age 64) Kosovo, FPR Yugoslavia
Citizenship	Kosovo

Veton Surroi studied Modern English Language and Literature at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).^[3] He worked as a journalist in the Albanian language daily Rilindja. In 1989, he was one the founders of the Association for the Yugoslav Democratic Initiative and the first independent trade unions in Kosovo.^[4] In 1990, he founded and became editor-in-chief of the independent Koha weekly. From 1991-92, he was president of the Parliamentary Party of Kosovo.^[4]

In 1997, Surroi established one of the biggest Kosovo Albanian daily newspapers Koha Ditore and was the editor-in-chief for a number of years before he entered politics in Kosovo.^[2] Surroi's father, Rexhai Surroi, was one of the very few Albanians to become ambassadors of the former Yugoslavia.^[5] His father was the Yugoslav ambassador to Spain and a number of Latin American countries. As a result, Surroi spent a part of his life in the Spanish-speaking world where he was also educated.

Surroi is a polyglot, speaking four languages, namely Albanian, English, Serbian and Spanish.

Surroi won the 2011 SEEMO Human Rights Award.^[6]