What is the US contribution to the Special Court?

The United States contribution to Specialised Chambers in The Hague is largely focused on funding employees appointed by state authorities. So said Judge Angela Greep's spokeswoman, Radio Free Europe, when asked whether the funding of this institution would be affected after the provisional suspension of US funding.

Greep gave no information if the staff of the Court, coming from the United States, is affected by this decision or not.

American President Donald Trump, through an executive order, has frozen international aid for 90 days. Building funding aid programmes is part of the American president's effort to adapt these programmes to his foreign policy goals.

But there is no confirmation of whether this suspension affects even the Specialised Chambers and Kosovo Specialised Prosecutor's Office, headquartered in The Hague of the Netherlands.

These institutions, also known as the Special Court, investigate the alleged crimes of members of the Kosovo Liberation Army committed against ethnic minorities and political rivals from January 1998 to December 2000.

Currently, several judgments are under way in The Hague against former KLA leaders, and the court has also announced some damning decisions.

Who is funding the Special Court?

The Special Court is funded by the European Union, but also by third contributing states, including the United States, Canada, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.

Specialised rooms and Prosecution currently have a budget of 97.1m euros, including the period from June 15th 2023 to June 14th 2025.

The entire budget is funded by the EU, but other states also contribute to specific programmes.

In this context, the US primarily contributes to funding several employees, Greep says.

According to the latest annual Court report, belonging to 2023, the U.S. is ranked second, after Holland the host state of the court headquarters, in terms of the number of employees in the Specialised Chambers and the Specialised Prosecutor's Office.

US-appointed employees in various positions offer their expertise at the Special Court.

Specialised chambers and Prosecution employ two categories of workers: employees appointed through state authority (seded) and contracted employees. But specialists from EU states and other contributing states also contribute.

The United States finances its workers who are appointed through state authorities.

At the Special Court, these employees assigned to work at The Hague also remain employed in US institutions, mainly in Government, international organisations or law enforcement agencies.

These employees in general, but depending on the state procedures for appointment of personnel, serve at the Special Court for at least a year, with access to the service.

Their expenses, including wages, contributions to health insurance, travel expenses and other compensation, cover the state that has appointed them.

They are also paid wages, depending on the circumstances.

Among the American employees are experts and prosecutors. The deputy head of the court is the American, Charles L. Smith III, meanwhile, is the chief prosecutor of America, Kimberly West, who took office in 2023.

Judge Smith is also the chief judge in the biggest case near the tribunal, the one against former KLA leaders -- former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci, former Prime Ministers Jakup Krasniqi and Kadri Veselin and former deput, Rexhep Selimi.

According to data, by December 31st, 2023, 283 persons were employed in the Special Court, from near 30 from the US. The number of employees appointed through state authorities has also increased in 2023, and three of them were from the US and Switzerland.

Special Court funders cover the institution's operating costs, but they also finance specific programmes and aspects of operation. Example, Norway has financed the renovation of the Court and Switzerland building through a grant, has contributed to the financing of the information program since 2018.