Kosovo’s Thaci says talks with Hague prosecutors ‘price of freedom’
Thaci arrived for questioning by war crimes prosecutors in The Hague on Monday, saying that “nobody can rewrite history” over his role in the 1998-99 conflict with Serbia that won Kosovo its de-facto independence.
His arrival was greeted by a small group of chanting supporters, who held up signs and chanted his name as he entered the Kosovo Specialist Chambers.
Thaci, who is attending voluntarily, has said he wants to prove that he broke no international rules in the armed conflict between separatists from the Kosovo Liberation Army and Serbia.
“Today I am here to respect what I dreamt and fought for, a free independent Kosovo based on equal rights, multi-ethnic society and rule of law,” Thaci told reporters outside the Kosovo Specialist Chambers.
“I am ready to face the new challenge and succeed for my son, my family, my people, and my country. Nobody can rewrite history. This is a price of freedom.”
The Kosovo president and others face 10 counts of “crimes against humanity and war crimes, including murder, enforced disappearance of persons, persecution, and torture.”
Read more: EU: Serbia-Kosovo talks ‘back on track’ after video meeting
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NATO intervention against Serbia — a look back
Traces of war on the Kosovo field
The Kosovo conflict intensified at the end of the 1990s. Ten thousand people were displaced. When all efforts to bring peace to the region failed, NATO started air strikes on Serbian military bases and strategic targets in Serbia on March 24, 1999. After 11 weeks, Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic finally backed down.
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NATO intervention against Serbia — a look back
Non-violent resistance fails
Protests against Belgrade’s attempts to undermine the rights of the Albanian majority in Kosovo began in the mid-1980s. The 1990s saw a massive increase in Serbian repression. Ibrahim Rugova (l.), who took the reins of Kosovo’s political movement in 1989, called for non-violent resistance and sought to convince Slobodan Milosevic (r.) to change course — to no avail.
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NATO intervention against Serbia — a look back
Armed guerrilla war
An armed resistance formed in Kosovo, in which the self-proclaimed Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK) began a brutal guerrilla war. The UCK undertook violent attacks on Serbia as well as against Albanians it considered to be collaborators. Serbia retaliated by torching houses and looting businesses. Hundreds of thousands of people fled.
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NATO intervention against Serbia — a look back
Systematic expulsion
The war grew increasingly brutal and Serbian forces stepped up attacks on civilians in an attempt to destroy the UCK and its supporters. Scores of people fled into the forests. Thousands of Kosovo Albanians were loaded onto trains and trucks to be transported to the border, where they were thrown out without passports or other personal documents that could prove they were from Kosovo.
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NATO intervention against Serbia — a look back
Last attempt to negotiate
In February 1999, the USA, France, the United Kingdom, Russia and Germany convened a meeting of warring parties in Rambouillet, France, in an attempt to establish autonomy for Kosovo. Kosovan representatives accepted the proposal, yet Serbia was unwilling to compromise. The negotiations collapsed.
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NATO intervention against Serbia — a look back
‘Humanitarian intervention’
On March 24, 1999, NATO began bombing military and strategic targets in Serbia and Kosovo in an attempt to end violence against the Albanians. Germany also participated in the bombing. “Operation Allied Force” became the first war in NATO’s 50-year history — one conducted without the backing of the UN Security Council. Russia harshly criticized the intervention.
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NATO intervention against Serbia — a look back
Crippled infrastructure
Beyond military targets, NATO also bombed supply lines, train tracks and bridges. Over the course of 79 days and nights, allied forces flew more than 37,000 sorties. Some 20,000 missiles and bombs rained down on Serbia. Many civilians were killed: “collateral damage,” in the words of NATO.
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NATO intervention against Serbia — a look back
Toxic cloud over Pancevo
Industrial sites were also targeted. In Pancevo, near Belgrade, NATO bombs hit a chemical and fertilizer factory. Massive amounts of toxic substances were released into rivers, the ground and the skies — resulting in grave health risks for the nearby civilian population. Moreover, Serbia accused NATO of deploying uranium-enriched munitions as well as cluster and fragment bombs.
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NATO intervention against Serbia — a look back
Targeting the propaganda machine
State television offices in Belgrade were attacked in an attempt to deprive Slobodan Milosevic of his most important propaganda tool. Although the Serbian government was warned of an impending attack in time, Belgrade withheld that information. Sixteen people were killed when the site was bombed.
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NATO intervention against Serbia — a look back
Misguided bombs
NATO bombs in Kosovo inadvertently hit a group of Albanian refugees, killing an estimated 80 people. NATO also claimed that the accidental bombardment of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade was another case of “collateral damage.” Four people were killed in the misguided attack, leading to a diplomatic crisis between Beijing and Washington.
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NATO intervention against Serbia — a look back
The ghastly toll of war
In early June, Belgrade signaled that Slobodan Milosevic might be prepared to surrender, prompting NATO to end its campaign on June 19. The final toll of the war: thousands of dead and 860,000 refugees. Serbia’s economy and large swaths of its infrastructure were destroyed. Kosovo was put under UN administration.
Decision on charges
Thaci and the other defendants are accused of being “criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders.” He has dismissed the accusations but says he will resign if he is formally charged.
A pre-trial judge will decide later this year whether to confirm or reject the charges.
With its majority Albanian population, Kosovo had been a province of Serbia before the Albanians rebelled against Belgrade’s rule. A series of guerrilla attacks quickly expanded into a war that was marked by a brutal crackdown by Serbian forces.
More than 10,000 people died in the Kosovo conflict, most of them ethnic Albanians. The fighting ended after a 78-day NATO air campaign in 1999 that forced Serbian troops to retreat.
Thaci has been president since 2016 having previously served as prime minister. In recent years he has taken part in talks aimed at normalizing ties with Serbia, which still rejects Kosovo’s independence.
Read more: A Cold War solution for Serbia and Kosovo?
rc/kw (AP, AFP)
Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/kosovo-s-thaci-says-talks-with-hague-prosecutors-price-of-freedom/a-54164748?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf