Pasic: Kurti is a political opponent of former KLA leaders, political statements aimed at winning votes

Lawyer and former military prosecutor Dragan Pasic stated that Kosovo’s caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti is a political opponent of the leaders of the former KLA who are on trial in The Hague, but that he uses their names in the pre-election campaign because he is aware that he does not have a sufficient number of supporters to regain power.

Pasic told Kosovo Online that Kurti’s statements about the KLA are political in nature, due to the large number of people who are aligned with that organization.

“Albin Kurti does not mention any of the indicted individuals by name, I am referring to Hashim Thaci, Krasniqi, Selimi, and Veseli. He refers to the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army, which he says had a clean and just struggle. Therefore, his real struggle is not to secure freedom from potential criminal liability for these four defendants and others, but rather this is a political statement aimed at winning voters, because a considerable number of people in Kosovo and Metohija are sympathetic to the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army,” Pasic said.

As he added, Kurti did not call for the abolition of the Special Court in The Hague, but rather for the release of the four former KLA leaders.

“I would remind you that Albin Kurti has not officially called for the abolition of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers or the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office. He says that Hashim Thaci and the other defendants should be released, because in his opinion their detention has lasted unreasonably long, but he does not deny the existence of these judicial institutions. Instead, in this way he wants to collect political points among a broader electorate,” Pasic said.

According to his assessment, Kurti is a political opponent of the KLA leaders, but uses them in the pre-election campaign in order to attract undecided voters.

“I would remind you that Albin Kurti supported holding accountable those accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, but he realized that he does not have enough supporters among the public, given that he has so far been unable to form a government. In this way, he wants to win over the undecided voters or those who show political affinity toward Hashim Thaci and others who represented the so-called Kosovo Liberation Army. Kurti wants to win over the electorate in this manner, even though it is indisputable that he is a political opponent of the four defendants in The Hague,” Pasic concluded.