Speech at the UN: Rama does not mention Kosovo or the KLA

In Pristina, it was expected that Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama would speak at the United Nations General Assembly about the Hague Special Court’s decision concerning former KLA leaders.

Before the speech, Kosovo’s leading media outlets raised the question of whether the issue would be included in Rama’s address. Klan Kosova published the headline: “Rama delivers a speech today at the UN General Assembly: Will he speak about the KLA?”

Telegrafi also reported that there was considerable interest in whether the prime minister would refer to KLA leaders during his speech.

However, in the 22-minute speech delivered before the UN, neither “Kosovo,” nor “KLA,” nor the “Special Court” was mentioned. Rama focused mainly on artificial intelligence and then on the “Flamingo Revolution.”

The absence of any reference to Kosovo and the former KLA leaders prompted immediate reactions in the Pristina media.

Koha.net covered the matter with the headline: “Kosovo without a voice at the UN, Rama speaks about artificial intelligence.” According to the report, Kosovo was not mentioned even once in the Albanian prime minister’s speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday.

The media outlet reported that for around 20 minutes, Rama spoke about artificial intelligence and the risks associated with it, while calling for international agreements on “sovereign and democratic AI.”

Kosovapress titled its report: “Edi Rama did not mention the conviction of KLA leaders at the UN.” The article stated that Rama’s speech focused on artificial intelligence and “Minister Diella,” without mentioning the conviction of the former KLA leaders.

Bota Sot also highlighted the same fact, stressing that Rama did not speak at the UN about the conviction of KLA leaders. According to the outlet, although he had previously described the conviction as a “disgrace,” in his speech before the General Assembly he chose to speak about artificial intelligence and “Minister Diella.”

At an earlier event, Rama had accused Joe Biden and the United States of betraying Hashim Thaçi. According to this position, in the end it was Rama himself who left the “commander” unmentioned in one of the world’s most important halls.