PRISTINA: Kosovo on Thursday awaited the return of President Hashim Thaci to respond to accusations of war crimes from the 1990s conflict with Serbia, as supporters and critics alike defended the “just” struggle that paved their path to independence.
Thaci was the former political leader of the ethnic Albanian guerilla group, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which launched a rebellion against Belgrade more than 20 years ago when Kosovo was a southern province of Serbia.
On Wednesday, he and others were accused of a slew of war crimes and crimes against humanity linked to the 1998-99 war in an indictment filed by special prosecutors at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague.
After the bombshell announcement, the president canceled a planned trip to the US where he was set to discuss lingering tensions with Serbia.
His office had originally said he would return to Kosovo on Thursday but sources in Albanian said it was likely he would arrive in Pristina Friday. The presidency declined to comment.
The 52-year-old’s only visible reaction was an update the cover photo of his Facebook profile to feature the crest of the KLA.
He has previously said he would comply with the court and that he is innocent and has “nothing to hide.”
The indictment accuses Thaci and other suspects of murder, enforced disappearance, persecution and torture against “hundreds of known victims of Kosovo Albanian, Serb, Roma, and other ethnicities and include political opponents.”
The charges still needs approval from a pre-trial judge but the prosecutors said they made the news public because Thaci and others have been trying to “obstruct the work” of the tribunal, which operates under Kosovo law but has international judges.
It is unlikely that the 52-year-old would face arrest before the indictment is approved by a judge, which could take months, though a court spokesperson declined to specify.
Meanwhile at home, both Thaci’s fans and his detractors came to the defense of the rebels who rose up against Belgrade in a war that cost about 13,000 lives, overwhelmingly Kosovo Albanians.
Calling for calm and noting that all are innocent until proven guilty, the government underlined that the war itself was “just and liberating and, as such, will remain one of the most important periods in the country’s history.”
In the capital Pristina, pensioner Qazim Fazlia said he found the court “unfair” for only investigating KLA fighters.
“We know that Serbia is the one that has committed crimes in Kosovo,” he told AFP.
The left-wing party Vetevendosje, which is sharply critical of Thaci, also affirmed its belief “in the pure and just war of the KLA and we are committed now and always to defend it.”
The conflict ended after a US-led NATO intervention in 1999 forced Serb troops to withdraw from the former province.
Top Serbian military and police officials were later convicted by international justice of war crimes during the conflict in which thousands of ethnic Albanian civilians were killed, tortured or forced to leave home.
But the KLA is also accused of atrocities against Serbs, Roma and ethnic Albanian rivals during and after the war.
Many rebel commanders have gone on to dominate Kosovo politically during its first decade of independence, which Serbia still rejects.
First as prime minister and now president, Thaci himself has remained at the center of the political scene throughout.
Critics see him as the face of a entrenched political elite accused of rampant corruption and state capture.
His right-hand man Kadri Veseli, the KLA’s former spy chief who now leads the political party founded by Thaci, was also accused of the crimes and has rejected them as “untrue.”
Former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, another ex-rebel, came to their defense.
“The Kosovo Liberation Army has waged a pure war, which resulted in the freedom and establishment of the Republic of Kosovo,” he wrote on Facebook.
“We believe in the innocence of president Thaci, (party) president Veseli and all other comrades,” he added.
Kosovo defends ‘just war’ after president accused of war crimes
https://arab.news/v5vvv
Kosovo defends ‘just war’ after president accused of war crimes
- Thaci was the former political leader of the ethnic Albanian guerilla group, the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which launched a rebellion against Belgrade more than 20 years ago
- After the bombshell announcement, the president canceled a planned trip to the US where he was set to discuss lingering tensions with Serbia
’American? No!’ says Greenland after latest Trump threat
NUUK: Greenland’s political parties said they did not want to be under Washington as US President Donald Trump again suggested using force to seize the mineral-rich Danish autonomous territory, raising concern worldwide.
The statement late Friday came after Trump repeated that Washington was “going to do something on Greenland, whether they like it or not.”
European capitals have been scrambling to come up with a coordinated response after the White House said this week that Trump wanted to buy Greenland and refused to rule out military action.
“We don’t want to be Americans, we don’t want to be Danish, we want to be Greenlanders,” the leaders of five parties in Greenland’s parliament said in a joint statement.
“The future of Greenland must be decided by Greenlanders,” they added.
“No other country can meddle in this. We must decide our country’s future ourselves — without pressure to make a hasty decision, without procrastination, and without interference from other countries.”
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said in an interview published Saturday that Trump’s “blackmail must stop.”
But he also said he did not believe a US military intervention would happen.
“Greenland is a European territory, placed under the protection of NATO. I would add that the Europeans have very powerful means to defend their interests,” he said.
Fears of invasion
According to a poll published Saturday by Danish agency Ritzau, more than 38 percent of Danes think the United States will launch an invasion of Greenland under the Trump administration.
A Danish colony until 1953, Greenland gained home rule 26 years later and is contemplating eventually loosening its ties with Denmark.
Many Greenlanders remain cautious about making this a reality.
Julius Nielsen, a 48-year-old fisherman in the capital Nuuk, told AFP: “American? No! We were a colony for so many years. We’re not ready to be a colony again, to be colonized.”
“I really like the idea of us being independent, but I think we should wait. Not for now. Not today,” Pitsi Mari, who works in telecoms, told AFP.
“I feel like the United States’ interference disrupts all relationships and trust” between Denmark and Greenland, said Inaluk Pedersen, a 21-year-old shop assistant.
The coalition currently in power is not in favor of a hasty independence.
The only opposition party, Naleraq, which won 24.5 percent of the vote in the 2025 legislative elections, wants to cut ties as quickly as possible but it is also a signatory of the joint declaration.
“It’s time for us to start preparing for the independence we have fought for over so many years,” said MP Juno Berthelsen in a Facebook post.
Vast natural resources
Denmark and other European allies have voiced shock at Trump’s threats on Greenland, a strategic island between North America and the Arctic where the United States has had a military base since World War II.
Trump says controlling the island is crucial for US national security given the rising military activity of Russia and China in the Arctic.
“We’re not going to have Russia or China occupy Greenland. That’s what they’re going to do if we don’t,” the US president said Friday.
“So we’re going to be doing something with Greenland, either the nice way or the more difficult way,” he added.
Both Russia and China have increased military activity in the region in recent years, but neither has laid any claim to the vast icy island.
Greenland has also attracted international attention in recent years for its vast natural resources including rare earth minerals and estimates that it could possess huge oil and gas reserves.
Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has warned that an invasion of Greenland would end “everything,” meaning the transatlantic NATO defense pact and the post-World War II security structure.
Flurry of diplomacy
“I’m a fan of Denmark, too, I have to tell you. And you know, they’ve been very nice to me,” Trump said.
“But you know, the fact that they had a boat land there 500 years ago doesn’t mean that they own the land.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio is due to meet next week with Denmark’s foreign minister and representatives from Greenland.
A flurry of diplomacy is under way as Europeans try to head off a crisis while at the same time avoiding the wrath of Trump, who is nearing the end of his first year back in power.
Trump had offered to buy Greenland in 2019 during his first presidential term but was rebuffed.
