Former deputy head of the KLA War Veterans Organization (OVL-UÇK), Nasim Haradinaj, has reacted to the recent arrest of Lulzim Halili by Serbian authorities, who was reported to be a former member of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).
Speaking on the “Ora 7” program on Klan Kosova, Haradinaj stated that any former KLA fighter who chooses to travel through Serbia is denying their own identity as a veteran.
According to him, Serbia is actively attempting to fabricate or manipulate cases involving veterans—regardless of whether they truly served—in order to tarnish the image of the KLA.
“The very fact that someone claims to be a veteran and then freely passes through Serbia—even in shorts—means they are denying themselves. If you were a true veteran, a fighter in all the wars, and you judge yourself worthy enough to go through Serbia, to me, that is self-denial, and you’re not a veteran in my eyes if you take that road,” Haradinaj said.
He further emphasized that traveling to Serbia—even for leisure—is an admission that one does not identify with the KLA legacy.
“If you enter Serbia just for fun, you’re denying that you were a veteran of the war, because Serbia openly has a list of wanted veterans. No one knows better than you whether you were truly a veteran or not. Serbia needs to create false veterans to fulfill its agenda of defaming the KLA. That’s its mission—to defame. For 27 years, I have not considered myself worthy enough to go not just to Serbia or Montenegro, but not even to North Macedonia,” Haradinaj concluded.
