
PDK MP, Vlora Çitaku, has reacted to the statements of the United States and Great Britain regarding the verdict against former KLA leaders, opposing their calls "for the decision of the Special Court to be respected."
Çitaku said that Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi are part of Kosovo's history and the state-building process.
In her reaction, she referred specifically to Thaçi's relations with international allies, emphasizing that he had cooperated with them since the first days of his political engagement.
She also mentioned the appreciation that, according to her, Thaçi had received over the years from international partners, saying that he was once compared to American President George Washington.
"Hashim Thaçi's historical allies have started to react. Those with whom he worked from day one. Those with whom, together, we achieved many successes and historical moments. And now they have started to tell us: accept the decision, because there is an appeal... Thank you very much. For you, perhaps Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi are just people with whom, at a certain moment in history, you collaborated. People whom you once appreciated and exalted, to the point that you even compared Hashim Thaçi to George Washington," said Çitaku.
Çitaku emphasizes that her position and that of the supporters of the former KLA leaders is that the first instance decision should not be accepted as fair, despite the possibility of appeal.
"For us, they are not simply characters from a past chapter. For us, they are part of our history. They are part of the foundations on which our state was built. They are the people with whom one of the most important chapters of Kosovo's freedom is connected," Çitaku wrote.
Her reaction comes after statements from international allies such as the US and the UK, who have stressed the importance of respecting the decision of the Specialist Chambers and using legal mechanisms for appeal.
Çitaku, however, has made it clear that he disagrees with this approach.
"So, thank you very much for the advice. But no. We do not accept this decision. We will oppose it. We will resist. Until the end. Until freedom," she concluded.
The Specialist Chambers in The Hague sentenced Hashim Thaçi to 25 years in prison, Jakup Krasniqi to 25 years, Kadri Veseli to 18 years and Rexhep Selimi to 13 years in prison. The verdict is of first instance and the parties have the right to appeal.