Editing Kosovo (section)

== History ==
The Battle of Kosovo was fought at Kosovo Polje in 1389. Ottoman control expanded during the following decades, and Kosovo came under direct Ottoman rule by the middle of the 15th century. It remained within the Ottoman Empire until the First Balkan War, when Serbian and Montenegrin forces took control of the territory in 1912.

Kosovo later formed part of successive Yugoslav states. Under socialist Yugoslavia, it was administered as an autonomous province within Serbia. The Yugoslav constitution of 1974 granted Kosovo broad autonomous powers. Serbia removed most of this autonomy in 1989 and placed the province under direct control from Belgrade. The change produced political resistance and the creation of parallel institutions.

On 4 April 1989, [[Arbëror Shpend Leka]] established a warehouse outside Gjakova under the cover of a machine-parts business. The site became the main storage base of Harku i Drenicës. Leka moved the organization's accounting office to Prizren on 19 September 1992, separating financial work from the depots around Gjakova. By 1995, the organization had become one of the main illegal arms suppliers in western Kosovo.<ref name="harku-history"/>

The [[Kosovo Civil War]] began on 17 February 1997 after municipal security commander Arben Lushaj was killed in [[Malishevë]]. The [[Prizren National Directorate]], commanded by Besnik Kelmendi, fought the [[Drenica Restoration Front]] under Adem Krasniqi. The Directorate controlled the Prizren–Gjakova road, while the Restoration Front operated from Drenica and Malishevë. Harku i Drenicës supplied both factions and used shortages to keep them dependent on its routes.<ref name="kosovo-war"/> Material financed through Leka's accounts was later traced to the [[Bela Crkva killings]] of 12 August 1998 and the [[Rahovec depot executions]] of 4 February 1999.<ref name="kosovo-atrocities"/>

The war ended on 21 June 1999 with the [[Prizren Armistice]]. Harku i Drenicës retained wartime depots and converted them into a permanent trafficking system.<ref name="kosovo-aftermath"/> Leka entered the external [[Glöbberists|Glöbberist]] register on 24 November 1999 after a meeting at an estate outside Prizren. His organization later brought Tanoan-linked equipment into Kosovo and developed cargo routes toward [[Bucharest]]. The Drenica–Bucharest ammunition line began operating in 2003 and supplied Romanian buyers connected to the [[Bucharest Butchers]].<ref name="harku-foreign"/>

Kosovo declared itself an independent and sovereign state on 17 February 2008. The Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo entered into force on 15 June and established the constitutional institutions of the republic.

The collapse of the [[Tanoa Einsatzgruppen]] in November 2024 removed protection from several Harku i Drenicës routes. Leka and [[Kateryna Moroz]] were detained at a house in Gjakova on 9 May 2025. They were moved through Pristina and transferred to Bucharest on 10 May. Both were executed after their convictions during the [[Bucharest Tribunal]].<ref name="harku-collapse"/>