More than 40.6 million euros have been allocated from Kosovo’s state budget to cover legal defense and financial support for people facing charges before the Specialist Chambers in The Hague.
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A large majority of these funds, around 39.8 million euros, was specifically dedicated to legal representation, according to information provided by Kosovo’s Ministry of Justice to Radio Free Europe.
The four former senior figures of the Kosovo Liberation Army, Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi, alone received more than 28.4 million euros from 2021 through September 14, 2026.
These figures have emerged shortly before September 16, when the four former KLA commanders are due to learn the trial panel’s decision after a process lasting more than three years.
All four have been held in pretrial detention in The Hague since November 2020 and face charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, which they have categorically rejected and pleaded not guilty to.
According to the Ministry of Justice, from the beginning of the payments through September 14, 2026, the state has paid a total of more than 40.6 million euros under the support scheme for people accused in The Hague. Of this amount, nearly 39.8 million euros went toward defense lawyers’ services, while around 28.47 million euros were spent exclusively on Thaçi, Veseli, Selimi and Krasniqi during the 2021-2026 period.
Kosovo has established in law an obligation to finance defense costs and other forms of assistance for individuals who are accused or may be accused by this special court.
A total of 14.14 million euros was allocated in 2020 and 2021 to implement this legislation, while 6.85 million euros was allocated in 2022, 7 million euros in 2023, and another 6.85 million euros in 2024. For 2025-2026, 8.05 million euros has been budgeted for each year.
When these budget allocations are added together, the total allocated for the 2020-2026 period reaches approximately 50.95 million euros. However, the Ministry has not made data from before 2020 available, despite RFE having requested information for each year starting in 2015.
From its analysis of state budgets, RFE found that for the 2018-2026 period, the funds earmarked for this purpose exceed 60 million euros. The Ministry of Justice says that there are currently no outstanding obligations to lawyers or other beneficiaries of the program.
The expenditures are subject to an audit by the National Audit Office, but the findings of this audit remain hidden from the public.
Audit reports explain that these payments are classified as “restricted” and therefore are not included in the public report, but are dealt with in a separate document sent only to the responsible authorities.
Although the latest information from the Ministry provides a clearer picture, monitoring organizations say that the lack of transparency regarding how this money is used has been a persistent concern over the years.
Ehat Miftaraj, executive director of the Kosovo Law Institute, stressed that since 2020 the institute has spoken out about the lack of information on expenditures and criticized the partisan approach that creates a narrative by obscuring payment details for each individual.
Miftaraj added that the public has the right to know not only the total amount, but also the exact sum paid to each accused person, as well as the types of services covered, without jeopardizing the confidentiality of the defense strategy.
Along the same lines, Anton Nrecaj of the Center for Legal Aid and Regional Development drew attention to the need to distinguish between the planned budget and the amount actually spent, calling for the publication of the amounts, periods and categories of payments in line with the fees and complexity of the cases.
The legal framework for this financing was established in 2015 with the adoption of the Law on the Specialist Chambers and the Law on Legal Protection and Financial Support for Potentially Accused Persons.
This legislation guarantees coverage of lawyers’ costs and other forms of assistance. The Ministry of Justice bases its payments on a 2022 Administrative Instruction, which was further supplemented in 2024, while family visits are regulated by another instruction from 2020, revised in 2022.
Under the rules currently in force, an accused person is entitled to visits from a maximum of 12 close family members during a year, with no more than three people per visit.
The Specialist Chambers, established under Kosovo’s laws but based in The Hague and staffed internationally, investigate allegations of crimes committed during and after the 1998-1999 conflict, focusing on former KLA members.
If an accused person is acquitted in a final judgment, the law and relevant instructions provide for a right to compensation.
This includes the period of deprivation of liberty, material damage, lost earnings and non-material or moral damage. Although there is no fixed daily rate, Miftaraj explains that administrative practice refers to up to 25 euros per day, while court decisions in similar cases have awarded between 30 and 60 euros per day, depending on the circumstances.
The September 16 judgment could take the judicial process against the four former KLA leaders in a new direction, paving the way for appeals, while the law provides for continued financial support during the further examination of the case.
