Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama called on U.S. President Donald Trump to intervene regarding developments at the Kosovo Special Court, stressing the need for action before the situation worsens. Rama spoke during a Peace Board meeting in Washington, urging international attention to the prolonged detention of former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi.
Rama said Thaçi has spent six years in pre-trial detention before a special court in The Hague, backed by several Western democracies. He criticized the handling of the court proceedings and said that recent prosecutorial demands for long prison sentences have caused public shock in Kosovo.
“In this moment, only a few months separate a man who rose from resistance against ethnic cleansing to a peacemaker from a potentially destructive conclusion in a court that has so far failed to uphold democratic justice standards. For God’s sake, Mr. President, let us act before serious harm happens again,” Rama said.
Kosovo President Vjosa Osmani said she discussed the cases of four former Kosovo Liberation Army (UÇK) leaders, for whom The Hague Tribunal has sought 45-year sentences, as well as ongoing tensions with Serbia, during a bilateral meeting with Trump.
Osmani did not provide full details of the conversation but said that both she and Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama would provide more information when appropriate. She said the U.S. president offered strong assurances on the issues.
“We discussed both topics in detail and received strong guarantees. When the moment is right, Prime Minister Rama and I will speak further about this,” Osmani said in an interview with Klan Kosova.