Adnan Rrustemi, a member of Kosovo’s ruling Vetëvendosje Movement, has called for a coordinated state response to what he described as Serbia’s attacks following the first-instance verdict against four former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) by the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.
Speaking during a session of the Kosovo Assembly on Thursday, Rrustemi said the establishment of a working group to develop a state strategy for the appeals proceedings demonstrated that Kosovo could not remain passive in the face of developments he believes risk distorting the history of the country’s liberation.
“We will be part of this effort, firmly convinced, as we have consistently maintained, that the KLA does not need historical rehabilitation. Its war was a war for freedom,” Rrustemi said.
He stressed that courts must assess individual responsibility based on evidence rather than turn Kosovo’s liberation struggle into a matter of collective guilt.
“Justice has a duty to judge individuals according to the evidence, without turning the history of our liberation into an object of collective blame,” he said.
Rrustemi also called on Serbia to confront its own wartime record and urged Kosovo’s institutions to respond appropriately to what he characterized as attacks following the verdict.
“Serbia must confront the genocide. Its attacks following the verdict in The Hague must receive the appropriate response from our Republic,” he said.
He described the challenges ahead as complex and called for greater coordination and cooperation among Kosovo’s institutions.
“We face a complex battle that requires coordination, cooperation and joint action — today more than ever,” Rrustemi added.
Kosovo prepares strategy for appeals proceedings
The working group tasked with drafting and coordinating Kosovo’s state strategy for the appeals proceedings before the Specialist Chambers held its constitutive meeting on Tuesday.
The Kosovo government established the group on October 14 to coordinate the state’s approach to the appeals process involving the four former KLA leaders.
On September 16, the Specialist Chambers issued a first-instance verdict sentencing former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi to a combined 81 years in prison for war crimes.
The verdict has triggered strong reactions in Kosovo and renewed political debate over the relationship between individual criminal responsibility, the legacy of the KLA and the historical interpretation of Kosovo’s 1998–1999 war.
The appeals process will determine whether the first-instance judgment is upheld, amended or overturned.
