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By:
Gashi radiates
- September 16, 2026 19:42
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State and party leaders in Kosovo and Albania have described the decision of the Special Court to sentence four former KLA leaders as unjust and inconsistent with the truth of the war. They have expressed hope that the verdict will be overturned in the second instance.
State and party representatives in Kosovo have assessed the conviction verdict announced in The Hague as unjust.
Prime Minister Albin Kurti has said that the punishment of former leaders of the Liberation Army is not a punishment by the will of the people.
"The verdict may have been formally pronounced in the name of the people of Kosovo, but this empty formula should not be confused with the will of the people. This verdict must definitely be changed and corrected at the appeal level and as soon as possible. In these difficult moments, we stand with the families of the former KLA leaders and all fellow liberation fighters," Kurti stressed.
Foreign Minister Glauk Konjufca, accompanied in the Special Chamber the session in which the sentence of 25 years in prison was imposed on Hashim Thaçi and Jakup Krasniqi, 18 years in prison on Kadri Veseli, and 13 years in prison on Rexhep Selimi.
Konjufca said that the verdict is terrible for Kosovo and for the liberation war.
"It is a sad, unjust, undeserved decision. It is truly something that will be very damaging, both for our narrative and for the state of Kosovo," Konjufca said.
Acting President Albulena Haxhiu said that the truth of the war in Kosovo does not coincide with what the court found.
"The Kosovo Liberation Army's war was liberating. It was born in the face of the oppression, violence and crimes of the Serbian regime against the people of Kosovo. No verdict can change the nature of that war nor undo the right of a people to fight for their freedom," Haxhiu wrote.
Representatives of political parties have also reacted.
PDK MP Enver Hoxhaj, who followed the verdict in The Hague, said that the decision should be changed at the second instance of the court.
"They were innocent 30 years ago, yesterday, and they are innocent today. They will remain innocent forever in the history of the Albanian people, in the hearts of the citizens of Kosovo, and what happened today is the blackest day the Albanian people have had since liberation, since independence until today," Hoxhaj emphasized.
And the former leader of the Alliance, Ramush Haradinaj, who himself faced war crimes charges but was acquitted, called on citizens to remain calm, saying that the legal battle must be won.
"Today's decision to sentence the leaders of the KLA on behalf of the people of Kosovo is unacceptable, it is unjust. The Kosovo Liberation Army fought a just war of liberation, the battle for justice must continue, this battle must be won in the second instance," Haradinaj declared.
And in a press release issued by the LDK, it is stated that the KLA defended the doorstep, and Serbia committed the aggression.
"No verdict, not even today's, can undo the historical truth of the war in Kosovo. The Serbian regime committed genocide and crimes against humanity; carried out a savage campaign of terror and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo; massacred innocent civilians, killed children, women and the elderly, exercised violence, forcibly expelled the population and burned and destroyed entire villages and cities," the LDK statement said.
Albanian state representatives have also reacted. Prime Minister Edi Rama shared a photo on Facebook with the caption "take it." And President Bajram Begaj wrote that "for Albanians, no one and nothing tarnishes the KLA."
