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What James Rubin told us about Hashim Thaci

2025-09-14 22:15:30Pikëpamje SHKRUAR NGA RUBEN AVXHIU
What James Rubin told us about Hashim Thaci
Hashim Thaçi and James Rubin. June, 1999.

James Rubin will be the first witness called by the Defense in the trial of Hashim Thaçi in The Hague.

Rubin became well-known to Albanians when, as a State Department spokesman and close associate and advisor to Secretary Madeleine Albright, he led the American public diplomacy campaign during the NATO intervention in Kosovo.

His work was of great importance. NATO defeated Serbia militarily, but Rubin won the most important battle, that of public opinion, in the face of Serbian deception, anti-American propaganda from countries from Russia to China, as well as the permanent “pacifists” in the West who blame America for every conflict.

Coincidentally, I interviewed James Rubin at the time when the fabricated accusations against Thaçi, the KLA, and Kosovo first emerged through the infamous report by Swiss MEP Dick Marty.

Rubin was an early reader and friend of the newspaper "Illyria", with a personal friendship with its publisher Vehbi Bajrami.

When the newspaper "Illyria" celebrated its 20th anniversary, Rubin was one of the main guests of honor at the gala evening in Manhattan, where he was honored with a decoration from the newspaper for his great work in the service of Kosovo.

The meeting to interview him was held in one of those beautiful townhouse-style houses, in the coveted and expensive area of ​​New York, the Upper East Side, which is also the area where all the consulates and missions of UN member countries are located.

The beautiful private building, with its characteristic white marble and black railings, was made available to Mike Bloomberg for the news agency “Bloomberg News”, which was experimenting for the first time with an opinion and editorial section, headed by James Rubin. Bloomberg was himself mayor of New York City at the time.

It was May 2011. Publisher Vehbi Bajrami had spoken to “Xhemi,” as he is commonly called by those who know him, and had set the day for the interview. We went together in the morning. In addition to the recorder, I had a camera in my bag, although we had been specifically told that no photographs would be taken inside the news agency’s premises. I was confident that we would find a moment and place to capture a photo for our memories, even if it wasn’t published.

James Rubin is also known as the husband of the prominent journalist Christiane Amanpour, who was distinguished for her reporting and commentary on the events in Bosnia and Kosovo. In the late 1990s, they had become one of the most powerful couples in Washington, although on different sides of the "barricade" of the information battle. She on the media side, he on the Clinton Administration side.

During the warm conversation full of personal memories, before the interview, Vehbiu tried to convince her to come as a couple to the "Illyria" newspaper party, but in the end it didn't happen. I think Christiane is much more famous and may have thought that Xhemi deserved all the attention to be focused on him.

Among the friends that Kosovo has honored, James Rubin is one of those who has been somewhat forgotten. Publisher Bajrami was determined to show him that Albanians had not forgotten him. In fact, when the two of them took the stage, in the large hall with almost 1,000 participants – above the capacity allowed by the rules, but that is another story – everyone stood up, applauding and calling his name. It was one of the culminating moments of the Dinner, also captured in a photograph that we published on the front page.

The Forgotten World of 1999

I recall these moments when the conversation with James Rubin focused precisely on the accusations against Kosovo fighters and the change in international relations, where suddenly Kosovo was being asked to explain itself or when its word and Serbia's were both taken into consideration. In 1999, there were also debates, but then Serbian propaganda was more easily defeated.

Had she been weaker, or did Rubin have some talent or strategy that is lacking today?

Two days ago, the US Strategic Dialogue with Kosovo was suspended, while it was promised to start with Serbia. This would have been unthinkable in 2011 when we met with James Rubin, but even then Kosovo was feeling the pressure.

We enjoyed talking to him at the time, and it's worth remembering today because it's quite relevant.

Maybe we sometimes need to talk to people who see things from a distance not only geographically but also temporally. James Rubin was no longer concerned with Kosovo and the Balkans. He smiled a little at our concerns and admitted that they were indeed problems, but said that Americans have a phrase for them: “happy problems.”

"Today they are really attacking you, but you are in your homes, you are an independent state and the victories achieved cannot be taken away from you," he says. "Of course this campaign is a problem, but one of those that in the US we call 'happy problems,' problems that you are not afraid to face, because you have left the most threatening ones behind you."

He also explains that times have changed. Once upon a time, the Serbs were the “bad guys.” They were led by a war criminal, ignored the West, and committed crimes against the population. It was easy back then to convince the world to side with the Kosovars. Today, when Kosovo has gained independence and the Serbs have been forced to make the democratic changes demanded by the West (which, he adds, they still have a long way to go), world opinion is no longer excited about Kosovo’s affairs. On the contrary, the prevailing idea is that Kosovo must now be held accountable and held accountable just like any other independent state.

Today, to what Rubin said, are added Serbia's efforts to lure the US, the EU and the West, with rare minerals, contribution to the production of ammunition and corrupt opportunities for investment and personal gain.

James Rubin spoke simply about his role and success in 1999. He said his job was very easy compared to today's battles for international public opinion.

"In my time, there were only two or three television stations that broadcast news 24 hours a day. This type of media was exploding, but it was still easy to work with," he told us. "Every day I gave a half-hour press conference and it was seen all over the world. So I had a great opportunity to explain our views to the world."

Since 2011 when we spoke to him, and even more so in our time, with the flood of social networks and new platforms, the public is bombarded with far more information than it can consume. While back then information was more monopolized than it should be, today it is more dispersed than it should be.

It can be said without fear that we were very lucky that the war in Kosovo happened before the advent of Facebook or X (Twitter).

While modest about himself, the former Deputy Secretary of State is generous in giving credit to his political bosses: President Clinton and Secretary Albright.

“It is now a well-known fact that Mrs. Albright was the strongest supporter of the intervention in Kosovo in the Clinton administration,” recalls former spokesperson Rubin. “The president left it up to her to articulate publicly the reasons for the intervention, which was then my job as her spokesperson.”

But it was important, he explains, that President Clinton insisted at all costs that our policy on Kosovo be explained in a way that would gain support not only in the United States but throughout the world. To provoke him to overcome the politeness of modesty, I told him that if everything was dictated by historical circumstances and the media, then the personal role of the communicator remained minimal. Rubin then admitted that his engagement at that time was actually a factor.

“There is a saying that says: Nothing convinces you like conviction,” he said, recalling that time. “I was very convinced of what I was saying. I was not just reading words on paper or doing my job. I had been a participant in the decision-making process at the State Department myself, as a close associate of Mrs. Albright. I had learned a lot, I knew the facts, I knew the names, I participated directly and personally in the process of negotiations, even talking to the KLA. I believed that by intervening they were doing a humanitarian act, averting the catastrophe that threatened the people of Kosovo. It is not surprising that those who have followed my public appearances have noticed the conviction with which I communicated and, in the process, have been convinced themselves that they were doing the right thing.”

"Deal with the accusations, never with the accuser!"

Today, he will testify as a witness about the charges contained in the indictment against Hashim Thaçi. At the time we spoke with him, these charges were part of a report produced by Dick Marty and the only negative thing at that time was the damage to the image of Kosovo and its war. At that time, no court or indictment was on the horizon, although the possibility existed.

Therefore, our conversation focused more on what Albanians should do to respond to them. According to him, the moral superiority of the KLA would not be violated, and this did not mean that there were no crimes, but they could not be attributed to an army that had openly condemned every attack on civilians.

"Look, that there may have been reprehensible actions during wartime, that shouldn't surprise anyone," explains James Rubin. "In times when death is prevalent, people can make decisions that they would never make today."

But his advice is for Albanians not to fall into the trap of conspiracy theories. "They are a vortex from which you can't get out if you slip in."

"My advice to Albanian leaders is not to fall into this trap. When faced with accusations, deal with the accusations and not with the accuser. Do not waste your energy exposing the accuser's intentions, because instead of helping, this actually hurts you. Deal only with the accusations. Read the facts one by one and with the calmness of a lawyer in court, present the counter-facts without emotion or anger," he advises.

James Rubin says he understands the emotional reaction: "We all feel that way when we are unfairly accused. However, in these moments we must find the calm to act in a clear-headed manner. Talking only about Dick Marty risks leaving his accusations unanswered. It is the accusations, not the accuser, that deserve attention."

On the other hand, Kosovo's leaders should primarily care about one thing: making the new state of Kosovo flourish. "This is the best revenge and response to any accusation," he told us.


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

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