The Parliament of Albania, after the formation of the new institutions in Kosovo, approved a declaration calling for the acquittal of the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), KosovaPress reports.

Through the declaration, which brought together both the government and opposition in Albania, Albanian MPs expressed deep concern over the final request of the Special Prosecutor’s Office of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague seeking the conviction of KLA leaders Hashim Thaci, Jakup Krasniqi, Kadri Veseli, and Rexhep Selimi.

The Albanian Parliament reaffirmed that the KLA was a legitimate liberation movement that fought for the fundamental human rights, freedom, dignity, and self-determination of the people of Kosovo, in accordance with international law and the United Nations Charter.

The Parliament of Albania expressed the following through this declaration:

• Full and unconditional support for the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army, who were and remain representatives of the legitimate aspirations of the people of Kosovo for freedom and self-determination. Their fight was a just one, grounded in the universal principles of human rights.
• A request to the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, the international community, and international justice institutions to declare Hashim Thaci, Jakup Krasniqi, Kadri Veseli, and Rexhep Selimi innocent through a fair and impartial process that respects and does not undermine the dignity of the people of Kosovo’s liberation struggle, ensuring that instruments of justice are not used to rewrite history or equate victims with aggressors.
• A reminder to the international community that the KLA’s war took place under conditions in which Slobodan Milosevic’s regime carried out ethnic cleansing, systematic crimes against humanity, and acts of genocide against Kosovo’s civilian population, and that NATO’s intervention in 1999 confirmed the legitimacy of that struggle and the criminal nature of Milosevic’s regime.
• High appreciation for international defense witnesses, such as Wesley Clark and James Rubin, who confirmed the right of the people of Kosovo and their leaders to freedom.
• Full solidarity with the people of Kosovo and the families of KLA leaders, reaffirming that the Albanian nation stands united in defending historical truth and the dignity of the fight for freedom.
• A commitment to undertake any necessary diplomatic and political steps in international forums to ensure that the historical truth about Kosovo’s liberation struggle is preserved and that justice is carried out fairly.

The Parliament of the Republic of Albania calls on the institutions of the Albanian state, the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, and the Albanian diaspora to remain united in defending the truth, dignity, and justice for the people of Kosovo and for the leaders of their liberation struggle, Hashim Thaci, Jakup Krasniqi, Kadri Veseli, and Rexhep Selimi.

The Parliament of the Republic of Albania recommends that the governments of the Republic of Albania and the Republic of Kosovo cooperate and coordinate in the international denunciation of Serbian crimes.

This declaration reflects the unanimous will of the Parliament of the Republic of Albania and is being transmitted to the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, the UN Security Council, the European Parliament, NATO Parliamentary Assemblies, the OSCE, the Council of Europe, and all friendly and partner governments.