Kosovo Parliament Unanimously Condemns Hague Verdicts Against KLA Leaders

Kosovo's parliament on Monday unanimously approved a declaration condemning recent war crimes verdicts handed down by a European Union-backed court against four former commanders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, in a rare show of cross-party unity as the country remains mired in a prolonged political crisis.

All 99 lawmakers present at the session backed the measure, which voiced concern over the convictions and called on state authorities to act in defence of Kosovo's legacy from the 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia. Acting President Albulena Haxhiu read the declaration aloud in the chamber.

The text urged the adoption of a "joint state strategy" to coordinate legal, institutional and diplomatic efforts aimed at protecting what it described as the full historical truth about the war.

Earlier this month, a court in The Hague found former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three other ex-KLA commanders guilty of war crimes, sentencing them to terms ranging from 13 to 25 years. The four convicted men are Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.

The verdicts have drawn widespread criticism in Kosovo, where the KLA is widely regarded as having fought against Serbian repression. Both citizens and politicians have expressed fears that the rulings could tarnish the memory of the independence struggle.

Since the sentences were announced, thousands have rallied across Kosovo, intensifying pressure on Prime Minister Albin Kurti, whose government is already grappling with a drawn-out political impasse following a failure to elect a president. Kurti now faces an October 6 deadline for political parties to agree on a successor; otherwise, early elections would be triggered — the third in a year.

Some opposition parties have tied their support for a presidential candidate to the passage of a new law that would seek to limit the jurisdiction of the Specialist Chamber in The Hague that tried the four men. Kurti has not yet responded to that demand, though his government has pledged to support the four during their appeals process.

The Netherlands-based court was established by Kosovo in 2015 with EU backing. Kosovo has been told it must normalise relations with Serbia if it hopes to join the European Union, but an EU-mediated dialogue has stalled as tensions between the former wartime foes persist.

More than 13,000 people died during the conflict, which ended after a NATO bombing campaign forced Serbia to withdraw from Kosovo, then a Serbian province. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a move Serbia still does not recognise.