File photograph: Hashim Thaçi (Courtesy Estonian Foreign Ministry)
Kosovo’s president Hashim Thaçi announced he would resign from his presidency if war crimes charges are filed against him by prosecutors at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.
His announcement comes after the Special Prosecutor’s Office with Kosovo Specialist Chambers publicly filed a 10-count indictment against Thaçi, accusing him of crimes against humanity, war crime including murder, enforced disappearance of persons, persecution, and torture.
The indictment, filed without confirmation from a pre-trial judge, was an unusual move by prosecutors. However they state the indictment was made public due to the “repeated efforts” to “undermine” the work of Kosovo Specialist Chambers by Kosovan president.
Thaçi, who was on his way to attend a summit at the White House when the news was made public, delivered an emotional rebuttal to the charges, stating that “political mistakes in peace I could have made, but war crimes, never.”
“If the accusation is confirmed, I will immediately resign as your president and face the accusations,” he added.
Elected in 2016 as president of Kosovo, Thaçi previously served as foreign minister and prime minister. He led the political wing of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during the armed struggle against Serbian forces in 1998-99. With an ethnic Albanian majority, Kosovo finally broke away from Serbia after 1999 a NATO bombing campaign, and gained independence in 2008.
Despite gaining independence, the state of Kosovo is still not recognised by Serbia and the two remain in dispute. The White House summit, organised by Trump’s Balkan envoy, Richard Grenell, was an attempt to normalise relations between the two countries.
The Kosovo specialist chambers were established in 2015, after an EU special investigation found “compelling” evidence of systemic war crimes carried out by the KLA. Earlier this year, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo wrote to Thaçi stating that “the abolishment or undermining the work, structure or locations of Kosovo specialist chambers and specialist prosecutor’s office in any way would seriously infringe Kosovo’s credibility in the world.”
“Any such claim would leave a permanent spot on Kosovo, its commitment to the rule of law would be under question, justice for victims would be denied and Kosovo’s future would be blurred,” he added.
In an interview with the Guardian in 2018, Thaçi, who is still seen as a hero to many Kosovans, said, “We believe the special court was unnecessary and unfair, but because of our relationship with the EU and the US we decided to support it”.
Pre-trial judge has six months to decide if the court will issue charges –a decision that may heavily impact Kosovo future as a success story.
"Nobody can rewrite the history of Kosovo!" Thaçi wrote on Facebook last week. "I remain full of hope that the coming days will be the best for Kosovo and Albania."
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