18th anniversary of citizenship finds Kosovo amid holiday, protest

For Hashim Thaci, the February 17th Tuesday is the first day after six Sosh not leaving for the courtroom to hear final statements in the case against him and three other former Kosovo Liberation Army superiors (UÇK): Kadri Veselin, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.

The same day, 18 years ago, he wrote the story: he declared Kosovo independent.

Thaci, former president, Veselin and Krasniqi, former prime minister, and Selimi, former allies, are charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity at the Special Court in The Hague, and are in custody from November 2020.

The Special Court functions with Kosovo laws, while for security issues, headquarters is in the Dutch city. It investigates the alleged crimes of KLA members against ethnic minorities and political rivals, from January 1998 to December 2000.

Despite thousands of miles away, this process has often affected the dailyness of Kosovo.

Same on independence anniversary: February 17th will be a mixed day between the holiday and the protest. The festival, because the country turns 18) a number that symbolizes the age of maturity in many countries, and a protest for, reportedly, the unaware treatment of the accused at The Hague.

In this process, the prosecution invited some 125 witnesses, a large part of whom were anonymous, while Thaci's and Krasniqi's defense invited names by name, such as retired US General Wesley Clark, former US Assistant Secretary of State James Rubin, and US special envoy during the Kosovo war, Christopher Hill.

The prosecution's 45-year prison request affected a public “>”

From 9 to 18 February, the 17th date in The Hague has been ruled out concluding statements in the trial process against Thaci and others.

Amer Alija, legal researcher at the Kosovo Humanitarian Law Fund, tells Radio Free Europe that these statements are a kind of analysis of the evidence that has been administered during the trial review, and have great weight in creating opinion in the court.

The “

The prosecution, during its speech, sought a sentence of 45 years in prison for each of the accused. For defence teams, such a requirement is equivalent to life in prison, so they rejected all claims of the other side.

Alija says the prosecution's request has no legal basis either in the former Yugoslav law, which was in effect at the time when crimes were allegedly committed in 1998-99, nor in Kosovo's current laws.

At the time, maximum sentences could go up to 20 years in prison, while with Kosovo's current laws envision up to 35 years in prison.

“In legal procedures, the court must take into account the universal principle BARlex Midioʹ, which means that the law that is most favourable in the case of the sentence's pronunciation should be applied to the criminal procedure”, Alija claims.

Agon Maliqi, the connoisseur of political affairs in Kosovo, tells Radio Free Europe that the prosecution's request has affected “a public nerve” throughout Kosovo.

For him, such demand is insulting and scandalous, and an attempt by the Prosecutor's despair to demand the maximum to ensure at least a smaller sentence.

I don't think the prosecution has produced a convincing case, there is an extremely large gap between the record of crimes, which even the defense is not opposing, and their connection with the [KLA's] General Staff, and the claim that this was centralized. With such a big gap, my guilty verdict seems unbelievable. Seeking punishment like for war criminals, who have killed tens of thousands of innocent civilians, is completely unproportional”.

But besides the voices that have always supported former KLA superiors, this time the word in their defense spread to institutional levels.

Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said that “any efforts trying to equate the KLA's liberation fight with the crimes of the Serbian genocide aggressor undermines trust in justice and seriously undermines long-term peace”.

Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti launched his speech to the Parliament's deputies during the presentation of the government's new composition on February 11th, saying that the prosecution's efforts at The Hague are “an attempt that conflicts with truth”.

He even founded a new ministry - for work, family, and the Values of Liberation War.

A day later, the Kosovo Assembly adopted the resolution, which requires fair judgment for those accused in The Hague.

Kurti, with his party, Vetevendosje Movement, have been extremely critical of the Special Court, and have voted against forming it. In 2017, efforts had also been made in the Kosovo Assembly to dismantle the court, but without success.

Turning to memory this fact, for Maliqi, the so loud approach of Kurt to the defense of the KLA war is his attempt to appear more comprehensive, while innovation is the approach of President Osmani, since in the past, he says, she has fostered a very different KLA concern with former leaders, that they were in power.

Osman's mandate expires as president for weeks, and it has already made clear the goal of a second term. However, it is not known whether he will get the necessary votes.

Can this be one of the reasons Osman is so loud for The KLA and its war?

Maliqi does not rule it out as an option: “President Osmani has shown up in recent years, so let me call the slalom schemer -- at many given moments -- capable of changing and adapting attitudes in line with its political interests”.

As for the judicial aspect, Alija recalls that statements and resolutions are political actions, protests are constitutional right, but that in the judicial process there is no weight.

Kosovo's road through 18 years

The resolution on the trial at The Hague constitutes one of the first decisions Kosovo's new legislature has adopted, issued following early parliamentary elections on December 28th.

The entire 2025 could easily be described as a lost legislative year, without functional institutions and deeply divisive approaches among parties, what resulted from the new election process, in which Kurti scored convincing victories with over 51 per cent of the vote and thus easily formed the new Government.

But, when Maliqi is required to go back in time, beyond 2025, and reflect on Kosovo's 18 years of citizenship, he says briefly that he sees symbolic growth of state maturity, and an obvious progress, but that lost opportunities are extraordinary.

There's a democracy consolidation, but it's very fragile. And under constant pressure. In this second full mandate of Kurti, it will be a challenge to protect institutions from the” struggle.

On occasion, Kurti's preliminary government has been sharply criticised by the United States and the European Union for unilateral actions, when it comes to the rights of the Serb minority, and a serious lack of compromise. As a result, Washington has suspended the Strategic Dialogue yet to begin, while Brussels has punished the country with sanctions, which only now has begun to lift gradually.

Seen at the international level, Kosovo has not achieved either membership in the United Nations Organisation, the EU, the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), or the Council of Europe.

Its citizenship is recognised by 121 world nations today, but the challenge still constitutes a lack of recognition from four NATO countries and five of the European bloc.

Success stories can be isolated when athletes have raised the flag to international races, especially in the Judo sport, where Olympic medals have been secured.

Economically, Kosovo continues to remain among the poorest countries in Europe, and without large investors.

New Chapter

As a country of 1.5 million people, the top priority seems easily identifiable: the preservation of alliances with countries that helped them to be independent, especially with the US.

The movements, like President Osmani's, play a role in establishing the Peace Board, the initiative of American President Donald Trump, for achieving world peace.

Kosovo has a vital relationship with the US, just as its path towards the European Union is vital. Kosovo has nothing to lose if it enters initiatives that do not conflict with either of these” goals, Maliqi points out.

Another process of importance, according to him, is the integration of Kosovo Serbs.

He orders leaders not to have completely reactive access to Serbia as a starting point, but to ignore it and not allow the decay of its agendas.

Serbia continues not to recognise Kosovo's citizenship, and despite the dialogue the two sides hold in Brussels, with EU mediation, the results are dim.

In this direction, forming the Association of Serb-run municipalities -- Kosovo's pledge coming out of this process -- poses one of the biggest challenges for the country's new government.

In the short term, the importance will also be how the judicial process ends in The Hague.

After concluding the closing statements, the case will be brought to judges who will have three months to make a decision.

Alija believes that they may be looking for an additional two months to examine the evidence, since the case is quite volume.

Meanwhile, on February 17th, Pristina squares will again be crowded.

There will be pride and boasting about the Kosovo Security Force parade, which is on track to transform itself into the military, but also calls for justice for indictees at The Hague.

The market was packed on February 17, 2008.

Joy had then reached its climax despite freezing weather. Perhaps it was ominous for all the challenges Kosovo would experience during its growth...