The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, during his visit to the United States of America, met with the American Congressman Mike Lawler, with whom he discussed the verdict of the Specialized Chambers of Kosovo in The Hague against four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, as well as the position of Albanians in the Presheva Valley.
Through a post on the X platform, Kurti stated that the judgment contains, in his opinion, “factual inaccuracies, historical misunderstandings and legal errors”, expressing the expectation that these issues will be addressed during the appeal procedure.
Kurti has also emphasized that the judgment did not include the allegations of organ trafficking presented in the Dick Marty report and that it rejected the Prosecution’s allegations of crimes against humanity. According to him, the other findings of the verdict should be reviewed in the appeal procedure.
On September 16, the Specialized Chambers of Kosovo found guilty and sentenced Hashim Thaci, Jakup Krasniq, Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selimi to a total of 81 years of imprisonment for war crimes. Thaçi and Krasniqi were each sentenced to 25 years in prison, Veseli to 18 years, while Selimi to 13 years.
In the meeting with Lawler, according to Kurt, the situation of the Albanians in the Presheva Valley was also discussed. The prime minister said that he has asked the American congressman for support on the issue of the passivation of addresses of Albanians in Serbia, arguing that this affects their voting rights and access to official documents.
The Albanian deputy in the Assembly of Serbia, Shaip Kamberi, also participated in the meeting.
The meeting took place within the framework of Kurt’s visit to the USA, where he is holding meetings on the sidelines of the High Level Week of the United Nations General Assembly. The visit follows his declarations of drafting a state strategy regarding the response to the Special verdict, including support for defense teams in appeal procedures and diplomatic engagement.
