Assembly approves declaration on Specialist Chambers’ judgment against former KLA leaders

By a majority vote, the Assembly of Kosovo approved a declaration concerning the judgment of the Specialist Chambers in The Hague against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.

The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo, as the representative of its citizens and an institution reflecting their democratic will, adopted the following declaration at its plenary session held on 28.09.2026:

The Assembly recalls that Kosovo’s freedom and independence are the result of a long struggle for human dignity, equality and the people’s right to decide for themselves about their future.

It considers that the people of Kosovo’s struggle for freedom and independence, led through the Kosovo Liberation Army, took place amid systematic repression and genocidal crimes by Serbia. During that period, the people of Kosovo were denied their fundamental rights and their right to live freely in their own country.

The Assembly also recognizes the decisive role of NATO’s intervention in stopping the violence against the people of Kosovo and in liberating the country.

No judgment, the declaration states, can change the historical truth of the war in Kosovo. Serbia committed genocide and crimes against humanity, while carrying out a campaign of terror and ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. Innocent civilians, children, women and the elderly were killed; sexual violence was used as a weapon of war; the population was forcibly expelled; and entire villages and cities were burned and destroyed. According to the declaration, these crimes were systematic, and their consequences continue to weigh on thousands of families.

The Assembly expresses its conviction that the rule of law includes both the right and the responsibility to challenge, through legal and institutional means, a judgment considered unjust.

The declaration states that Kosovo’s freedom and independence are closely linked to the sacrifices of generations, the political and peaceful resistance led by President Ibrahim Rugova, the war of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), and the decisive support of Western allies, including NATO.

1. The Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo expresses deep concern over the first-instance judgment against Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.

2. The Assembly considers the finding that a common criminal purpose existed unacceptable.

3. The Assembly calls on all state institutions of the Republic of Kosovo to take every necessary action to protect the truth and the legitimacy of the people of Kosovo’s liberation war. It also calls for the drafting of a common state strategy through which legal, institutional and diplomatic actions will be coordinated to protect and affirm the full historical truth about Kosovo’s just struggle for freedom and liberation.

4. For the period 1998–1999 in Kosovo, the existence of a joint criminal enterprise to expel Albanians was previously established through the judgments of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia against the political, military and police leaders of Yugoslavia and Serbia. This enterprise was carried out by the structures of a state that controlled the army, police and other mechanisms of power. According to the Assembly, this is the historical and judicial context that must be clear whenever the war in Kosovo is discussed.

5. The Assembly calls on the Specialist Chambers to respect their mandate in accordance with the will of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo.

6. The Assembly opposes any attempt to overturn Kosovo’s historical truth, question its liberation war, or equate the people who fought for freedom and survival with the regime that oppressed them.

7. The truth about the liberation war, justice for the victims and their families, and the right of the convicted persons to a fair trial belong to the same Republic. The Assembly declares that it will defend all three without compromise.