PDK responds to the British ambassador: do not reduce or relativize the Hague verdict

The Democratic Party of Kosovo has reacted to statements by the British ambassador to Kosovo, Jonathan Hargreaves, regarding the Specialist Chambers’ verdict against the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

PDK objected to Hargreaves’ statement that the verdict concerns “individual crimes”, describing this formulation as a diplomatic reduction of a decision which, according to the party, has broader historical and political consequences for Kosovo.

“In the reasoning of the Specialist Chambers, the KLA is treated within the concept of a ‘joint criminal enterprise’, while Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi, according to the verdict’s findings, were found responsible for their contribution to the so-called joint criminal purpose of the KLA,” PDK’s reaction says.

The party also emphasized that Thaçi, Veseli, Krasniqi and Selimi had been among the main figures of the KLA during the period of NATO’s intervention in 1999. According to PDK, for this reason the statement that it is only about “individual crimes” does not reflect the weight the party attributes to the verdict.

PDK also expressed criticism of the way international justice functions in Kosovo, claiming that the Specialist Chambers have turned into an example of “political abuse in the name of justice”.

The party mentioned in its reaction the report of the Bar Human Rights Committee of England and Wales on the Specialist Chambers, which on May 11, 2026 published a preliminary, independent assessment noting concerns over several aspects of the procedures, including equality of arms, provisional release, judicial independence and the treatment of evidence; the report was, however, presented as preliminary and did not definitively find concrete rights violations.

PDK said the concerns raised by the British organization should not be ignored by the states that support and finance the Specialist Chambers, and that Kosovo values Great Britain’s historic role in its liberation and state consolidation.

In closing, PDK announced it will continue to oppose interpretations that, in its view, distort the history of the war in Kosovo, with every democratic, political and legal means, as Telegrafi reports.