Three former presidents of Albania and one of Kosovo on Wednesday visited ethnic Albanian former commanders in the fight against Serbian rule in Kosovo who are being held in a Netherlands prison pending trial for alleged war crimes.
An EU-backed war crimes court and a linked prosecutor’s office based in The Hague have arrested five ex-Kosovo Liberation Army leaders since 2020, including Kosovo’s ex-president Hashim Thaci, and former parliament speaker Kadri Veseli. They have denied wrongdoing. Only one of the five has gone on trial.
Former Kosovo President Behgjet Pacolli, speaking for himself and the four others who visited the detainees—three Albanian former presidents (Rexhep Mejdani, Alfred Moisiu, and Bamir Topi) and a current lawmaker, who is also a former prime minister (Pandeli Majko)—said they wanted to “show ... support and solidarity with their last battle in defense of Kosovo’s war for freedom and independence.”
Read more here.
