Rama Disappoints Kosovo, Not a Word on the KLA in His UN Address

There were high expectations in Kosovo that Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama would devote space in his address to the United Nations General Assembly to the developments following the Hague Special Court’s verdict against the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army.

Pristina’s leading media outlets ran headlines today like this one from Klan Kosova: “Rama delivers his UN GA address today: Will he speak about the KLA?”

“It is awaited with curiosity whether the prime minister will also include the issue of the KLA leaders in his speech,” writes Telegrafi.

But Rama disappointed them all.

His 22-minute address did not contain the words “Kosovo,” “KLA,” or “Special Court” at all. His greatest concern was artificial intelligence — and then the “Flamingo Revolution.”

That immediately triggered a reaction from Kosovo’s media.

“Although in Kosovo it was expected that Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama would devote space in his speech before the UN General Assembly to the developments following the Hague Special Court’s verdict on the former KLA leaders, this was not heard today from the head of the Albanian government in New York. Edi Rama devoted almost his entire speech at the UN General Assembly to reflections on artificial intelligence and social media. He also criticized the protests in Albania. In his speech, Rama did not mention Kosovo, nor was there any reference to the actions and rhetoric of Serbian President Aleksandar Vuçiq,” writes RTK.

“Kosovo voiceless at the UN, Rama talks about artificial intelligence” is the headline on Koha.net. “In no single instance was Kosovo mentioned in the speech of Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday. For about 20 minutes Rama spoke about artificial intelligence, its risks, and called for international agreements on ‘sovereign and democratic AI’,” the article states.

“Edi Rama did not mention the sentencing of the KLA leaders at the UN” is how Kosovapress headlines its story. “Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama did not mention at all the sentencing of the former KLA leaders in his address to the UN General Assembly. Rama’s address to the UN General Assembly focused on artificial intelligence, where he also mentioned ‘minister Diella,’ but not the sentencing of the KLA leaders,” it says.

Kosovo’s other outlet, Bota Sot, also stresses the fact that “Edi Rama did not mention the sentencing of the KLA leaders at the UN.” According to it, Rama had called the sentencing a “disgrace,” yet in his UN General Assembly address he focused “on artificial intelligence, where he also mentioned ‘minister Diella,’ but not the sentencing of the KLA leaders.”

At an earlier event, Rama accused Joe Biden and the United States of betraying Hashim Thaçi. In the end, he himself abandoned the “commander” by failing to mention him in one of the world’s most important halls.