Vela responds to Hoti: No decision appointing Sejdiu as political adviser

Blerim Vela, former Chief of Staff to Kosovo’s former president, Vjosa Osmani, has rejected former Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti’s statements about Professor Bekim Sejdiu’s engagement with the Office of the President.

In a post on X, Vela said the claim that Sejdiu had served as the President’s political adviser was unfounded.

He explained that, during the 2021–2023 period, when he headed the Cabinet of the President of the Republic of Kosovo, he was directly involved in the process of engaging Professor Sejdiu with the Office of the President.

According to Vela, Sejdiu was brought on as an external expert במסגרת the Norwegian Government’s program to support the institution of the Presidency. The program was implemented by BPRG and did not entail either an appointment to a political position as the President’s adviser or the establishment of an employment relationship with the Presidency.

Vela compared this engagement with other international assistance models through which Veton Surroi, Blerim Shala and other experts had also been involved in the dialogue, with Norwegian support through BPRG. He added that during his time at the Presidency, three other external experts were engaged through the same mechanism, and none of them was an appointed political adviser.

The former chief of staff said Sejdiu’s contribution was linked solely to his expertise on matters of national importance. According to him, the professor had worked on the modalities of relations with the Vatican, communication with the United States and issues related to relations with Turkey, including the matter of drones. Vela stressed that his engagement had also been made at the suggestion of international partners.

Vela called on Hoti to make public the document allegedly proving Sejdiu’s appointment as a political adviser, declaring that no such decision exists. He added that this was also supported by Sejdiu’s asset declaration, since Sejdiu was not subject to that obligation precisely because he had not held the position of political adviser.

“Public debate should be based on facts and documents, not claims,” Vela wrote.