During a meeting with the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, at the UN headquarters in New York, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti raised concerns about the verdict against former KLA leaders and called for European support in bringing those responsible for the attack in Banjska to justice.
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Kurti said he had discussed with the EU’s high representative the first-instance ruling by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, describing the proceedings as having been marked throughout by a lack of transparency.
“I expressed my deep concern over the harsh and unjust sentences handed down to former KLA leaders in the Specialist Chambers’ first-instance verdict, following proceedings that lacked transparency throughout,” Kurti wrote.
According to the prime minister, the judicial proceedings are not yet over, and Kosovo will work to have the process, together with the verdict, corrected at the appeals stage.
Kurti said the KLA was formed in response to repression, killings, massacres and ethnic cleansing carried out by Serbia. He described its war as a just and honorable struggle for freedom, while calling Serbia an aggressor with a genocidal plan.
He recalled that during the war, hundreds of thousands of people were driven from their homes and thousands more were killed. He also mentioned around 20,000 women and men considered victims of sexual violence used as a weapon of war, stressing that many crimes committed by Serbian forces have yet to be punished.
Another issue discussed was the attack in Banjska. The prime minister called on the EU to help pressure Serbia so those responsible would face justice. He recalled that September 24 will mark three years since the attack, in which Sergeant Afrim Bunjaku was killed.
“Meanwhile, Milan Radoičić and the other members of the paramilitary terrorist group, who are being protected by the president of Serbia while receiving protection and support from him, must face justice in Kosovo. I therefore called for the EU’s support in pressuring Serbia,” Kurti said.
The situation of Albanians in the Preševo Valley was also discussed. Kurti said they face discrimination, a lack of equal rights and low representation in state institutions. He described the deletion of their addresses as “administrative ethnic cleansing.”
Referring to the path toward Europe, Kurti criticized Serbia’s alignment with Russia and China. He said Belgrade was moving away from democratic values while continuing to show interest in European Union funds.
Kurti stressed that Kosovo’s commitment to European and Euro-Atlantic integration remains unwavering. In this context, he called for the country to be granted candidate status.
“We are fully aligned with the European Union’s foreign and security policy, have made significant progress in almost every area and are ready to work even harder. Therefore, the appropriate and necessary response from Brussels would be to grant the country candidate status for membership,” Kurti wrote.
Meanwhile, on September 16, the Trial Panel found all four defendants guilty and sentenced them to a total of 81 years in prison.
Hashim Thaçi and Jakup Krasniqi were each sentenced to 25 years in prison, Kadri Veseli to 18 years, and Rexhep Selimi to 13 years. These sentences include time served in pretrial detention.
