Celic: The Letter from KLA veterans was not sent to Grenell by chance

Dusan Celic, professor of international law at the University of North Mitrovica, believes that the letter from the KLA Veterans Organization to Richard Grenell, in which they call for the abolition of the Specialist Chambers in The Hague, was not sent by chance at this particular moment — nor was the choice of recipient accidental.

Speaking to Sputnik, Celic says that the goal of the letter is, on one hand, to undermine Kurti, and on the other, to bring the main indictees — Ramush Haradinaj and Hashim Thaçi — back into political life.

According to Celic, the letter from the KLA veterans should be viewed from both a Kosovo and an international perspective.

"I believe that the international context indicates that the timing of the letter, as well as the recipient — Richard Grenell — was not chosen by accident. Most likely, at least in my view, the aim is to weaken Kurti’s position during attempts to form a central government in Pristina, to increase pressure on him to form a majority with other Albanian parties. Or, more radically, to bring Thaçi’s political circle back into the picture — possibly even Thaçi himself, who, despite being indicted for war crimes, showed some willingness to try to reach a compromise with Belgrade," Celic says.

He adds that the KLA veterans' associations are aligned with the opposition parties led by Thaçi and Ramush Haradinaj.

Even before Kurti came to power, these associations were opposed to his "Self-Determination" movement, Celic explains.

"This political dimension in their relations has been evident for years," he notes.

Celic further explains that from the Kosovo Albanian perspective, the Specialist Chambers have always been unwelcome, despite the compromise that was reached under U.S. insistence, whereby they were not established as an international court under the UN Security Council, but rather as part of a "quasi-judiciary of Kosovo" with international staff.

"From the outset, even though that compromise was made, the Specialist Chambers have been perceived as a foreign body that would prosecute only Albanians and tarnish the 'idyllic image' of the KLA as an innocent, pure guerrilla organization that committed neither crimes nor war atrocities. We've seen this perception since the Chambers were established — both in the media and in Albanian society in general in Kosovo and Metohija," Celic explains. 

The official narrative, he says, is that only Serbs committed crimes, while Albanians merely defended themselves. However, he adds, the facts tell a different story — quite the opposite, in fact.

What Celic, as a lawyer, finds troubling is that the Specialist Chambers are not serving justice when it comes to Serbian victims. According to him, this is evident in the indictments, where Serbian victims are almost entirely absent.

"On the other hand, it now appears that the Specialist Chambers are being used to manage the crisis in Kosovo and Metohija," Celic concludes.