Kosovo was more important than my personal fate

Kosovo was more important than my personal fate

President Hashim Thaçi’s final statement at the Special Court in The Hague.

The Hague, 18 February 2026, text published on the page “Foundation “Support for the Legal Defense of Hashim Thaçi”.

Honorable President of the Tribunal, Mr. Smith,

Honorable judges,

Yesterday, in Kosovo, the 18th anniversary of the Independence of the Republic of Kosovo was marked. On February 17, 2008, feeling the heartbeat of our ancestors, we declared Kosovo an independent and democratic state. I would like to extend my warmest congratulations to all the citizens of Kosovo on this magnificent holiday.

Honorable judges,

For almost three years, in this courtroom, you have heard the Prosecution’s charges and the Defense’s arguments. You have seen the facts. You have heard the truth. There is only one truth: that the charges do not hold up! I am completely innocent. But, I have said it and I say it again, with complete conviction: I sympathize and express my regret for all the victims who have suffered in Kosovo, regardless of their ethnicity.

Honorable judges,

At the time of the massacres in Qirez, Likoshan and Prekaz, in early 1998, I was a student at the University of Zurich. I was not making plans to take control of Kosovo. I was making plans to prepare for exams. The only person making morbid plans was Slobodan Milosevic. Plans for another genocide, this time in Kosovo.

Like many other citizens, I was also forced to leave Kosovo earlier. Because the Milosevic regime was after me. He had sentenced me in absentia, on the charge that I had violated his discriminatory laws. Later, the same regime would also sentence President Clinton, Secretary Albright, Prime Minister Blair, Chancellor Schroder, President Chirac, NATO Secretary General Solana, and others in absentia.

Seeing the massacres against my people, I, like many others, could not remain indifferent. I decided to return to Kosovo. This was a completely personal decision of mine. Because, I could not stand aside while my family and people faced extermination. I did what each of you would do, if your country was in danger. I am proud of this and I never regret it.

Honorable judges,

The prosecution claims that the goal was to seize and exercise control of Kosovo. This is not only completely untrue, utterly absurd, but it is also deeply offensive. It is an insult to the memory of thousands of heroes who gave their lives for freedom. It is an insult to the tens of thousands of innocent victims killed and massacred. It is an insult to the efforts of NATO and the Western alliance, with whom I worked closely.

Let me repeat an eternal truth: The only opponent of me, the people of Kosovo, and the democratic world, was Slobodan Milosevic and his regime.

It’s hard to hear this accusation.

Especially when, during the war, I didn’t know if I would be alive from day to day. I wasn’t sure if I would ever see my family again. My wife. Or hold my newborn son in my arms again. Let alone dream of exercising control in a completely occupied Kosovo.

The fact that some of us are alive today is purely coincidental, or lucky.

I did not return to risk my life for control and power. I returned to my homeland risking my life for freedom and peace.

The question that arises is: taking control by whom? The truth is that all control and power were in the iron hands of Milosevic.

Albanians did not exercise power; they were oppressed by power. Our mission as a people was clear: survival, freedom, and peace.

I had no illusions. Our only hope for salvation was the democratic world: the United States of America and NATO. All the while, my sole focus was on building and strengthening this alliance. To this end, I traveled to many capitals to convince them of our just cause: to Brussels, London, Berlin, Paris, Bern, Oslo, Vienna, and elsewhere. Wherever I was, I was in contact with officials of the American administration. 

Milosevic had started the war, while we Kosovars were defending ourselves. But only NATO could end the war. And that’s what happened. If it weren’t for NATO intervention, there would be no freedom for Kosovo.

This Prosecutor praised me a lot, and awarded me many titles and ranks. But the truth is completely different. It was not me who transported the resistance from the West to Kosovo. I joined it in Kosovo. It was not my return from the West that was the reason why the KLA was gaining mass. The reason was Milosevic.

As Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said at the time: “Milosevic, with his behavior towards the people of Kosovo, is the KLA’s greatest recruiter.”

The KLA was not a state army. It was a popular organization that was defending itself from an aggressor state. The fact that the KLA was not organized, as the Prosecution claims it was, does not diminish its role in Kosovo’s freedom. It does not make its cause for liberation any less noble, nor its achievement of independence any less historic. Kosovo’s victory was more political and diplomatic. The greatest success for the people of Kosovo was full cooperation with the West. They helped us precisely because they knew who we were and what our goals were.

I, at no cost and under no circumstances, would risk this alliance with anything in the world. Because, in doing so, I would be risking the very freedom of Kosovo. I would be risking our collective existence. Our goal was peace, not war.

When the democratic world decided to convene the Rambouillet Peace Conference, we responded positively to their invitation. The KLA was one of the three groups represented by Kosovo. However, throughout the process, we worked as the Kosovo delegation. We accepted the peace agreement, even though it did not meet all of our legitimate demands. Kosovo chose peace and democracy. Serbia chose war and genocide.

And to help the international community, as they had asked us to, the three groups, LDK, UÇK and LBD, agreed to form a joint government. Until the first free and democratic elections. It was an agreement to join forces for a common goal: the freedom of Kosovo.

How can anyone claim that the goal was to take control, when we accepted that the international community had the main say in Kosovo?

Then, for the KLA to hand over its weapons to NATO.

After Milosevic’s capitulation, Kosovo came under UN administration. UNMIK explained that all executive, legislative and judicial power was in their hands. These were new circumstances. Afterwards, I worked with UNMIK, and with other political parties, to help implement their mandate for the benefit of the people of Kosovo. I worked in joint structures with UNMIK. During this time, the only power I had was the power of my voice. 

And, honorable judges, as you have seen during the trial, I used my voice to promote a tolerant and multiethnic society in Kosovo. I called on the local Serbs to stay in their homes and build a new life together with us. They and other minorities, like us, were victims of Milosevic. It was not easy to do this, after all that had happened.

But, it was the right thing to do.

In Kosovo, graves were being dug everywhere, for thousands of victims. Thousands of missing people were not found. Thousands of Albanian hostages had been taken to Serbia. The pain was deep and collective. What I was doing could have physical consequences and electoral costs for me. But Kosovo was more important than my personal fate.

After NATO entered Kosovo and Serbian forces left, the citizens of Kosovo were not fighting. They were celebrating. The long-awaited freedom.

During the nine years before independence, we were UN citizens in our country. During this time, I called on the population to be patient, to be tolerant, to be united, and to have faith in our international partners.

Independence was the fruit of our alliance with the democratic world.

After independence, I worked with the European Union and the US to normalize relations with Serbia.

Honorable judges,

What we faced was not just a period of war. It was a century of oppression and apartheid. Collective trauma also caused a strong sense of anger and revenge, during and after the war.

President Clinton came to Kosovo and told us: “We won the war, you have to win the peace.” I took this message seriously. I used my voice to call for peace and unity.

For most of the post-war period, until the declaration of independence, I was out of power. But, throughout, I respected democratic norms and the results of the elections. And whenever my party was in power, with electoral victories, it was always in coalition with the LDK and other non-Albanian political parties. Together we made the state of Kosovo a reality.

But Russian and Serbian propaganda would not forgive us easily. After failing to delegitimize Kosovo’s independence at the International Court of Justice, here in The Hague, they turned to the Council of Europe. They revived the horrific allegations of organ trafficking. Allegations that had previously been investigated by the Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, UNMIK and EULEX. And dismissed as baseless.

As soon as Dick Marty’s report was published, as Prime Minister of Kosovo, I gathered the main international representatives, the QUINT embassies and the EULEX leadership. I demanded another independent investigation. They promised to lift the black cloud over Kosovo. The truth is that Russian and Serbian propaganda manipulated Dick Marty. He fell victim to their campaign. They fed him false information and, in the end, even tried to kill him to blame us. The goal was clear: to discredit the most successful political and military project of the Western alliance in recent decades.

When we voted in Parliament to establish this Court, we believed that it would address the allegations in Dick Marty’s report. And it would act in accordance with the Constitution and laws of the Republic of Kosovo. In practice, neither one nor the other happened.

I have been criticized a lot and I still am criticized in Kosovo for supporting the establishment of this Court. Critics say that this Court aims to criminalize our fight for freedom and the idea of ​​independence. I did not believe this at the time when we voted for it. But, I sincerely hope that time will prove that I was right, and the critics were wrong. 

This Prosecutor’s Office, instead of removing the dark cloud from Kosovo, seeks to darken its sun with a dark storm: the so-called “Joint Criminal Enterprise”.

Many of the accusations that I have heard from this Prosecutor’s Office in this hall, I have also heard during the election campaigns in Kosovo.

It is truly painful that this Prosecutor is trying to refute the testimonies of senior officials of NATO, the USA, Great Britain and the UN, in this Court. Of those and their people who were with us the whole time. Who were the eyes and ears of the West from Kosovo.

To make matters worse, this Prosecutor’s Office claims that I misled them during the war. It seems that this Prosecutor’s Office is once again giving me more credit than I deserve.

On the other hand, it exalts to the sky the fabricated evidence from the era of Slobodan Milosevic’s regime. Thus, it ignored the truth itself.

Honorable judges,

My commitment to justice and victims was constant.

At Rambouillet, I supported the demand that the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia investigate alleged crimes by all parties.

Whereas, since the end of the war, all powers for investigating war crimes were in the hands of the internationals, the Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, UNMIK and EULEX. I supported their work. No one accused in Kosovo of war crimes has escaped. And, in fact, not a single window has been broken to oppose the legal processes during the 25 years after the war.

Even after the declaration of independence, when I was Prime Minister of Kosovo, I agreed that independent investigations into war crimes would remain in the hands of EULEX.

As President of Kosovo, I engaged eminent international and local experts, from all communities, to create a transitional justice forum for victims: the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

But the truth is that justice for victims cannot be built by prosecuting the innocent. Reconciliation cannot happen through selective and mono-ethnic prosecution.

Honorable judges,

Throughout my life, I have stood by the people, defending freedom, life, and dignity. Always guided by Western ideals of democracy, equality, and justice.

Today, at the end of this process, I have only one prayer for you: that your decision be guided by the Constitution of Kosovo, the law, evidence and justice. And the evidence presented makes it very clear that the charges do not stand! Therefore, the only fair decision is complete innocence.