TIRANA – Kosovo’s Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti will visit Tirana on July 3 this year to discuss the new developments following the announcement of indictment against President Hashim Thaci and some other leaders of the former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
This was made public by Albanian PM Edi Rama in an interview with Kosovo’s Kohavision TV last Thursday. Rama took the opportunity to call on Kosovo leaders to unite in face of the developments which are in progress.
According to him, the political rift in Kosovo is a “degradation”, and it was impossible for him to bring together all leaders of Kosovo at this crucial time.
President Hashim Thaci and the leader of Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Kadri Veseli were indicted for war crimes by the Special Prosecution in the Hague which was made public last Wednesday as Thaci was travelling to Washington to participate in a meeting with Serb leaders mediated by US Envoy Richard Grenell on June 27.
“I think that even in war when people fight and are killed, there is a moment when they take a break and communicate. We are too few to be crippled in this way. There is a reason why we are at a disadvantage today – and this is a fact – in terms of the Albanian issue, because of what I said: there has been a great degradation in Pristina for many years, and of course everyone has their own responsibility. I’m not here to blame anyone,” he stated.
Rama clarified that he is not trying to take the lead regarding issues that belong to Kosovo: “In this process, it is Pristina that leads and not us because at the end of the day it’s the duty of the legitimate leaders of Kosovo not mine. I speak about Kosovo but I do not speak on its behalf.”
The Prime Minister has faced criticism by Kosovo politicians in the past for interfering in Kosovo’s domestic or international issues. His alleged support on a Kosovo-Serbia land swap deal spearheaded by Kosovo and Serbian presidents Thaci and Vucic respectively caused a rift between Pristina and Tirana last year.
In a harsh reaction denouncing the indictment of President Thaçi and PDK leader Kadri Veseli by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague Rama said on Thursday in Albanian Parliament that everyone was surprised by the indictment. “Justice is justice and it is not justice in itself nor its search by a structure approved by the will of Kosovo itself that raises big question marks, but it is reading of the text distributed worldwide to announce a lawsuit against two historical figures of peace in Kosovo. It looks like a leaflet of the Chinese revolution.”
Albanian President Ilir Meta and opposition leader Lulzim Basha also defended the KLA war against Serbia, and expressed their firm belief in the innocence of its leaders. /argumentum.al
