Opposition lawmakers in Kosovo have reportedly begun collecting signatures for a parliamentary session aimed at seeking the abolition of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, hours after the court issued its first-instance verdict in the case against former KLA leaders.
According to sources cited by Indeksonline and reported by Ekonomia Online, MPs have started gathering signatures to request an expedited parliamentary session with a single item on the agenda: the abolition of the Specialist Chambers.
The reported initiative comes roughly five hours after the court’s verdict, which has triggered political reactions in Kosovo and renewed debate over the future of the institution.
Opposition MPs are said to have taken concrete steps toward securing the signatures required to request the session. The reports did not immediately specify how many lawmakers had signed the initiative or whether the required threshold had been reached.
Former U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue Richard Grenell has also called for the court to be dissolved.
“The foreign court should be dissolved quickly. Members of Parliament should work with Kurti to make this happen. Kosovo does not need a court in the Netherlands,” Grenell wrote.
The Kosovo Specialist Chambers were established to investigate and prosecute alleged crimes related to the 1998–1999 Kosovo war. The court is based in The Hague and operates under Kosovo law with international judges, prosecutors and staff.
Any parliamentary initiative to abolish or alter the institution would raise significant constitutional and legal questions, including Kosovo’s international commitments and the legal framework under which the Specialist Chambers were established.
