The elected deputies of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) have announced that their party is seeking the country’s presidency.

The demand was reiterated by Hykmete Bajrami and Jehona Lushaku Sadriu, one day after a meeting between LDK Chairman Lumir Abdixhiku and the leader of the Vetëvendosje Movement, Albin Kurti, on forming the new institutions ended without an agreement.

According to Lushaku Sadriu, the LDK has consistently maintained that Kosovo’s institutions should be built on a balance of political forces.

“In this context, our demand is for the post of president to go to the LDK. We want to sit down and discuss all the positions of power, and then have them divided proportionally. This has been our position,” Lushaku Sadriu told the media before a meeting of the LDK Parliamentary Group.

Hykmete Bajrami said she was not familiar with the details of the meeting held the previous day, but assessed that Abdixhiku was “rightly” insisting that the LDK receive the post of president.

“I believe that the post of president would create a balance among the branches of power in Kosovo and would serve as a guarantee both for Kosovo and for the Democratic League of Kosovo,” Bajrami said.

She added that LVV’s proposal for ministerial posts did not constitute a guarantee for the LDK.

The talks between Kurti and Abdixhiku lasted more than three hours. After they ended, the two leaders expressed opposing views on the issue of the president, a disagreement that months earlier between the parties had contributed to the announcement of the June 7 elections.

Albin Kurti said that Kosovo needed a consensus-based, nonpartisan president. Lumir Abdixhiku, on the other hand, said that any president who secured 80 votes from deputies should be considered consensual.

“A consensus president is any president who receives 80 votes. The LDK must feel represented in order to give its votes,” Abdixhiku said on the evening of August 4.

Vjosa Osmani also took part in the meeting with Kurti. The LDK had run with her in the June elections for another term at the head of state, as had the party’s deputy chairman, Lutfi Haziri.

LVV and the LDK have announced that they will continue discussions, while the constitutive session of the eleventh legislature is expected to take place on August 6. Following the constitution of the Assembly, the deadlines for forming the government and electing the president will begin.

The deputies will then have 60 days to elect the president. If this does not happen, Kosovo will go to elections, the fourth since February 2025.

The Vetëvendosje Movement secured 58 seats and, together with the parties representing non-majority communities, has the necessary number of votes to constitute the Assembly and form the new government. These processes require 61 votes in the 120-seat Assembly.

Meanwhile, for the vote on Kosovo’s president to be valid, 80 deputies must be present in the chamber.

A possible agreement with the LDK, which won 18 seats, would bring the parties to at least 81 votes. This would be sufficient to elect the new president, provided that at least 80 deputies remained in the chamber. / REL

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The request emphasizes that Thaçi poses no flight risk and is willing to accept strict restrictions, including remaining within Kosovo’s territory and surrendering his passport.

The former president has also pledged to refrain from making any public statements in the media or on social networks and not to discuss his case with anyone other than his defense team.

Conditions in the request:

Mr. Thaçi is prepared to comply with conditions similar to those imposed on his co-accused, described as “a tested and appropriate framework for temporary release”,⁵⁵ or with any other conditions the Single Trial Judge (STJ) considers appropriate, namely:

a) Mr. Thaçi shall not leave the territory of Kosovo unless authorized to do so by a competent judicial body of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers (KSC);

b) Mr. Thaçi shall surrender to the Registrar his passport and any other travel documents, including visas and any identification document that may be used for travel. This obligation also extends to any new passport or travel document that may be issued to him by the Kosovo authorities or other authorities after this decision is issued. If Mr. Thaçi’s presence is required at the KSC premises, the Registry shall make his passport available to him solely for that purpose. Upon his return to Kosovo, the passport shall again be surrendered to the Registrar;

c) Mr. Thaçi shall provide the address where he will reside in Kosovo throughout the judicial proceedings and shall seek permission from the KSC before any change of residence;

d) Mr. Thaçi shall deposit with the Registrar, as a precondition for his release, a financial guarantee in the form of a monetary transfer of 50,000 euros into the Registry’s account;

e) Mr. Thaçi shall refrain from any contact or communication, direct or indirect, through any other person, of any kind and by any means, with his co-accused, Bashkim Smakaj, Isni Kilaj, Fadil Fazliu and Hajredin Kuçi;

f) Mr. Thaçi shall refrain from any contact or communication, direct or indirect, through any other person, of any kind and by any means, with any person he knows to be a witness in this or any other case before the KSC;

g) Mr. Thaçi shall refrain from any contact or communication, direct or indirect, through any other person, with any person alleged in the Amended Confirmed Indictment to have participated in or assisted with the obstructive conduct at issue in this case;

h) Mr. Thaçi shall not discuss the substance of his case with anyone other than designated members of his defense team, including close family members, and shall inform anyone who asks questions about his case that he is subject to such a prohibition imposed by the KSC;

i) Mr. Thaçi shall refrain from making any public statement, directly or indirectly, for example through family members, in the media and/or on social networks concerning the KSC, the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) and/or any proceedings before the KSC;

j) Mr. Thaçi shall report weekly to the Kosovo Police for verification, in accordance with procedures established by the Registrar;

k) Mr. Thaçi shall surrender himself to KSC detention if ordered to do so and shall attend every court hearing as requested by the KSC. Any failure to appear before the KSC as ordered shall result in the forfeiture of the financial guarantee referred to in subparagraph (d), as well as the immediate issuance of an arrest warrant;

l) Mr. Thaçi shall notify the Registrar of the address where he will stay while in the territory of the Host State to attend court hearings and shall comply with any restrictions on his movement within the territory of the Host State that may be imposed during his stay there;

m) Mr. Thaçi shall respect the confidential classification of the decision on his release and shall not publish, disclose or discuss its contents in any way, directly or indirectly, with any person, including any accused person at the Detention Facility and members of his family, except for his counsel and designated members of the defense team, until the decision is made public by order of the STJ; and

n) Mr. Thaçi shall comply with any other decision, order or instruction of the Single Trial Judge and the Registrar,” the request states.

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As Anila Hoxha reports, in the arguments presented in the request for reconsideration, the defense claims that the case is mainly legal and constitutional in nature, and that the Supreme Court therefore has the authority to resolve it definitively, since no new evidence or reassessment of the facts is needed.

According to the defense, the court must assess whether the “prison arrest” measure remains necessary and proportionate, whether procedural risks have been argued concretely, and whether alternative security measures have been seriously considered.

The request also raises the issue of Veliaj being kept in a glass cage during court hearings. The defense argues that this practice violates human dignity and runs counter to the principle of the presumption of innocence, asking for him to be removed from the “cage” during judicial proceedings.

Another argument concerns the mayoral mandate. According to the defense, Veliaj was elected to a four-year term, from June 2023 to June 2027, and the continuation of his arrest is making it practically impossible for him to perform his duties. This, it says, affects not only Veliaj’s personal freedom, but also the right of the citizens who voted for their representative.

The defense warns that sending the case back for reconsideration in the lower courts would cause further procedural delays, risking that any final decision would be issued only after a significant part of the mandate had elapsed, which would make the effective restoration of the allegedly violated rights impossible.

For these reasons, the defense is asking the Supreme Court to exercise its authority, change the security measure, and order the immediate release of Erion Veliaj.

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