Albania’s Minister of Defence, Pirro Vengu, has reacted to the request of the Prosecutor’s Office in The Hague seeking sentences of up to 45 years in prison for former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA): Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.

Vengu stressed that the outrage over the request for maximum sentences stems from the need for justice to be fair and historically responsible. According to him, pre-trial detention lasting over five years and the nature of the charges have been transformed into instruments that blur the distinction between aggressor and victim, while the documented crimes of the Serbian repressive apparatus against Kosovo Albanians remain unpunished.

The Minister of Defence stated that attempts to equate KLA leaders with the perpetrators of the Srebrenica genocide are based on fabricated accusations, influenced by external factors, including Russian influence within international institutions.

According to Vengu, this institutionalised injustice reopens historical wounds and undermines public trust in peace institutions, delegitimising international law and the principle of peoples’ self-determination.

He underlined that the future of Kosovo, Serbia, and regional stability can only be built on credible, impartial and historically responsible justice — not on equating liberators with genocidal perpetrators.