Nasim Haradinaj Calls on MPs: ‘Unity! Unity! Unity!

The former deputy chairman of the Kosovo Liberation Army War Veterans Organization, Nasim Haradinaj, called for unity among Kosovo Assembly deputies during a protest held in Pristina and criticized the way international actors have handled issues related to the KLA war.

Haradinaj addressed protesters in the square in Pristina, demanding justice and the uncovering of crimes committed during the war in Kosovo.

His main appeal was directed at the 100 Assembly deputies, whom he urged to unite and fulfill the responsibilities they had accepted through their votes and promises.

“You 100 deputies who are there, all 100 of you, each with your own responsibility and with the burden you yourselves asked to carry, whether from votes or from promises, we call on you for unity! Unity! Unity!” Haradinaj said.

During his speech, the former head of the KLA War Veterans Organization also criticized the international community, saying that Kosovo citizens’ trust in it had been built on support for the KLA war.

“Internationals, whom we trusted because we had convinced them to help us in the KLA war and to win together. They came out without casualties because they had us here. They took the glory, we took freedom. But now we tell you: you have betrayed us, and give us back our trust!” he declared.

According to Haradinaj, the protesters are asking for nothing other than justice and the documentation of crimes, while he opposed the use of war-related cases for other purposes.

“We are asking only for justice! Justice and the uncovering of crimes, without fail, because many times they are trying to misuse this. Kosovo has built institutions; it has professional people to deliver justice,” Haradinaj said.

He said civilian victims and massacres must not be classified as isolated individual events, opposing the way these cases are being handled.

“Internationals, you cannot fool us that these are individual cases. We do not accept insults to the 400 executed in massacres, we do not accept insults to our children, we do not accept insults to our blood!” he said.

He closed his speech with an appeal for unity around the KLA and a message for its former members who are in The Hague.

“Long live the KLA! From today on, all are KLA! Glory to the comrades there in The Hague — I greet you! Nasimi, you who are in The Hague, and those here — either we will bring you here, or we will come there! Long live the KLA!” Haradinaj concluded.