The Specialist Court’s judgment against the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army has opened a new political chapter for Kosovo. The September 16, 2026 ruling concerning Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi is expected to affect not only their fate, but also the positioning of political parties and the functioning of the country’s institutions.
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Professor Enver Bytyçi told “Bota sot” that the Hague ruling has confronted Kosovo politics with a new reality in which the parties must reconsider their positions and strategies.
According to him, the Democratic Party of Kosovo and the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo, as political entities that emerged from the war, can no longer continue to rely on waiting for Hashim Thaçi’s return as a prerequisite for returning to power.
Bytyçi said hopes for the former president’s release have created uncertainty and encouraged PDK and AAK to continue blocking the institutions. He called on the two parties to cooperate with Vetëvendosje and LDK to establish Kosovo’s institutions as quickly as possible.
The professor warned that the absence of institutions places a state at even greater risk than a country under dictatorship, while describing anarchy as humanity’s greatest enemy. For this reason, he expects compromise, understanding, cooperation and unity among the political forces on issues concerning the fundamental interests of the state and the country.
Bytyçi also addressed the substance of the Specialist Court’s ruling, which he described as a blow to the way Kosovo was governed from its liberation until the indictment of the four former KLA commanders. He considered the sentences disproportionate and illogical, stressing that Hashim Thaçi and Jakup Krasniqi should not have received the same sentence.
According to him, several former leaders of the Socialist Party and the institutions in Tirana, including Fatos Klosi, should have been in the dock before the former KLA leaders. Bytyçi claims that Behadin Hallaqi was killed on Klosi’s advice, with the aim of strengthening authority, controlling everything within the KLA and seizing power.
However, he said he did not wish to dwell on this part and reiterated that the sentences imposed were harsh and, in his view, undeserved to that extent. The professor expects the Court of Appeals to reduce the sentences and present a different picture of the case.
Bytyçi cited cases handled by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, mentioning Croatia’s Kotovina, who was convicted at first instance but later acquitted on appeal. However, he stressed that a full acquittal should not be expected, as the court has established that one or more of the defendants participated in physical executions.
Another element that, according to the professor, should be taken into account is the dismissal of the charge of crimes against humanity. He sees this as evidence that the KLA was a legitimate insurgent movement and that the rulings do not invalidate the Albanian people’s war for freedom.
Bytyçi also emphasized that responsibility was determined to be individual and that the proceedings acknowledged that the creation of the KLA was an essential necessity caused by the Milošević regime.
According to him, the Hague ruling should also bring about a change in the way Kosovo’s political class approaches Serbia. He called on all parties to adopt a common position and said the opposition must understand that intermediaries such as Grenell or other similar figures are no longer effective and, in his view, may become dangerous to Kosovo’s interests when they go too far in supporting Serbian policies.
The professor argued that relations with Serbia have entered a new phase and that the time has come for Kosovo’s political forces to unite around setting a definitive boundary with it. He described the dialogue imposed by the Obama administration as the cause that led to the Specialist Court and other developments that, in his view, have harmed Kosovo.
Bytyçi said there can be no dialogue with Serbia as long as it seeks to benefit without recognizing the state of Kosovo. According to him, talks may take place only after recognition, and the decision to adopt this approach must be made jointly by all of Kosovo’s politicians.
Analyzing political developments since 2013, the professor said Kosovo has become more divided and fragmented than during any other period. He linked this process to the first agreement between Hashim Thaçi and Ivica Dačić, signed on April 19, 2013.
According to Bytyçi, rather than being set aside, the differences deepened and turned into major divisions among the political forces and within the parties themselves. He also linked this period to Edi Rama’s rise to power in Albania, accusing the Albanian prime minister of failing to unite Kosovo’s political class and instead contributing to its division.
He noted that during his first visits to Pristina, Rama did not meet his counterpart Isa Mustafa, and also mentioned his public conflict with former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj. Bytyçi further referred to Rama’s six-year clash with Albin Kurti.
The professor said many people attribute responsibility for the political divisions to Kurti, but argued that Rama has not clashed only with him. Bytyçi explained this by pointing to the stance that, according to him, Edi Rama has taken in Serbia’s favor whenever the issue of Kosovo has been discussed.
For this reason, he called for dialogue with Serbia to be halted, describing it as unacceptable for Serbia to have two seats at the negotiating table while Kosovo has only one. According to him, Serbia’s second, invisible seat in the dialogue belongs to Edi Rama.
As a first step following this development, Bytyçi suggested reaching a consensus on the election of Kosovo’s president. He said such an agreement would send an important message about the country’s stability at a time when, according to him, Serbia has been waiting for a state of war to emerge in Kosovo.
According to the professor, the second step should be to establish two or three principles as conditions for close relations with Albania. In this context, he mentioned condemning the Serbian genocide in Kosovo, making Albania’s relations with Serbia conditional on Kosovo’s interests, and coordinating positions in international relations.
Bytyçi criticized the current situation in which, according to him, Kosovo works to secure recognition while Albania’s prime minister asks his ambassadors to work against it because of ideas that he describes as solutions favoring Serbia, including a New Yugoslavia or the partition of Kosovo. He made these comments to “Bota sot.”
