An urgent meeting was held in the Committee on Human Rights, Gender Equality, Labour, Family, War Veterans’ Values and Petitions regarding an exhibition on the massacres of 1998–1999 in Kosovo, organized in Pristina by Shkelzen Gashi.
The deputy chair of the committee, Artan Behrami, raised concerns about the way wartime events are being presented and the risk of distorting the historical narrative.
He called for the issue to be treated urgently and for clarification of the role of institutions in funding and promoting the exhibition, as well as an assessment of institutional and individual responsibility. In this regard, it was proposed that the committee invite Minister Andin Hoti for reporting.
Behrami stressed that Kosovo faces a triple risk of rewriting history.
“The Special Court also has the aim of criminalizing the war of the Kosovo Liberation Army. The third element, what unfortunately we have seen in these years and which I never believed we would experience, is that some exponents within civil society, close to Prime Minister Kurti’s government, and unfortunately also ministers, and as we have seen even the Speaker of the Assembly, are financing with taxpayers’ money an exhibition which is entirely not a narrative of the victims or of Kosovo, but a narrative entirely from Belgrade,” Behrami said.
On the other hand, committee member from Vetëvendosje Movement, Mytaher Haskuka, opposed these views, stressing that the exhibition does not represent the government’s position and that a distinction must be made between institutions and civil society.
“We are all for protecting the values of the war. In this regard, it is very concerning that Behrami is linking an exhibition with the government’s intention. We know who established the Special Court and how it was voted. We were against it; Albin Kurti was the one who protested and was arrested in opposition to this court and the injustice that, according to him, is being done to Kosovo through it,” Haskuka said.
He added that Kosovo should also address other concerning issues related to foreign influence and public narratives.
Meanwhile, Armend Zemaj, a committee member from the Democratic League of Kosovo, also expressed similar concerns, emphasizing the need for accountability and accuracy in funding projects dealing with war-related topics.
AAK MP Albana Bytyqi stressed that for the first time there is a ministry with a direct mandate to protect the values of freedom, calling for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education to also be invited to the committee, due to the financing of projects that, according to her, contain inaccurate data and damage historical truth, as well as to clarify oversight mechanisms for such funding.
The meeting also saw tensions between MPs. Vetëvendosje MP Salih Zyba criticized previous governments, claiming that there are individuals who were former advisers and now live in Albania.
Zyba also told Zemaj that he had voted for a law that allegedly pardoned Serbian crimes, a claim which Zemaj rejected.
The meeting also included concerns over institutional financing of projects, the need for transparency and accountability in the use of public funds, and the importance of preserving historical truth and respect for war victims.