Parliament Speaker Albulena Haxhiu read the declaration, which was agreed by the Vetevendosje, Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Alliance for the Future of Kosovo and Multiethnic Parliamentary Group. It was approved by 99 votes, with none against or abstaining.

Parliament later elected PDK lawmaker Vlora Citaku as deputy speaker and appointed members of its parliamentary committees.

Last week, the PDK proposed amendments to the law governing the Specialist Chambers following the sentencing of former KLA leaders Hashim Thaci, Jakup Krasniqi, Kadri Veseli and Rexhep Selimi to a combined 81 years in prison.

The proposal would limit the court’s jurisdiction to offences cited in a 2011 report by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, including allegations of post-war organ trafficking.

It would also shorten the period covered by the court from January 1998-December 2000 to July 1, 1999-December 2000, cap prison sentences at 15 years, allow sentences to be served in Kosovo and make convicted persons eligible for a presidential pardon.

The Alliance for the Future of Kosovo has backed the proposal, while Vetevendosje, which leads the government, has said it will first review it from a legal perspective. The LDK has not yet taken an official position.

On Sept. 16, the Specialist Chambers sentenced Thaci and Krasniqi to 25 years in prison each, Veseli to 18 years and Selimi to 13 years. The first-instance verdicts can be appealed.

Protests have been held nightly in Pristina since the verdicts, with demonstrators opposing the sentences handed down to the former KLA leaders.

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Speaking during a visit to the United States, Kurti described the verdict as legally and morally unjust and historically and factually inaccurate.

“A state strategy for the most appropriate and effective response to the first-instance verdict is necessary, both in supporting defence teams during the appeals process and on the diplomatic front,” Kurti wrote on Facebook.

He said Kosovo would work with its international allies to defend what he described as the country’s liberation war against Serbian “propaganda” and to document massacres and other crimes committed by Serbia in Kosovo, which he said Belgrade continued to seek to conceal more than 27 years after the war.

During his first day in New York, Kurti also met members of the Albanian-American diaspora at a discussion titled “Between Here and Home”, organised by ZANI, F’Oda and the Columbia University Albanian Society.

Kurti said discussions covered a range of issues, including economic growth of 5.4% in the first quarter of the year and a decline in unemployment from 26% to 10% during his government’s tenure.

He also acknowledged the need for further improvements in the integrity and performance of Kosovo’s judicial system, which he said remained the subject of criticism in international reports, including those by the European Commission.

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The protesters opposed the sentences handed to former Kosovo President Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi and called for the verdict to be overturned.

On Sept. 16, the Kosovo Specialist Chambers sentenced Thaçi and Krasniqi to 25 years in prison each, Veseli to 18 years and Selimi to 13 years. The court found them guilty of several offences related to war crimes but acquitted them on some charges of crimes against humanity.

The protesters criticised what they described as the court’s treatment of the KLA’s wartime role and called for the verdicts to be overturned.

Earlier on Friday, thousands of people gathered in Prishtina’s main squares for a protest organised by the KLA War Veterans Organisation.

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“Twenty-seven years have passed, and some of those in court have forgotten the fear of Milosevic’s repression of the people of Kosovo,” Clark said in a live interview with “Off the Record” talk show at A2 CNN television.

He recalled the summer of 1998, when he said more than 400,000 people were driven from their villages and Serbian forces carried out operations targeting intellectuals, lawyers and professors, as well as looting homes and committing horrendous crimes against civilians.

“People resisted, of course, but perhaps today, 27 years later, looking at what is happening with the Russian invasion of Ukraine and in the Middle East, people forget. But it is not the same thing. They should not forget what happened from 1997 to 1999,” Clark said, adding that the lessons of Kosovo were important for protecting human rights.

Asked about the Hague verdict, which sentenced four former KLA leaders to a combined 81 years in prison, Clark said he had seen no evidence that justified the convictions.

“I know Thaçi and his colleagues and all those who fought. I testified at the trial and said what I had seen. I knew what was happening in Kosovo and about our cooperation with the KLA, and I saw no evidence to justify this kind of decision,” Clark said.

He acknowledged that the court had issued its ruling but said the appeals process would be difficult.

Clark also questioned the significance of evidence that had been kept secret from him during the proceedings.

“These secret testimonies, where even I was not shown any evidence from the prosecution, would not have changed my mind,” he said.

Clark said he had met Hashim Thaçi three times during the conflict, including at the Rambouillet talks, and later in Kosovo.

“The KLA and what was happening there was a rebellion against an authoritarian regime,” he said, adding that individual crimes had also been committed by Serbs against their Albanian neighbours.

Clark said he had also described in court the strong emotions within communities where people who had lived alongside each other for years felt betrayed by their neighbours.

He said he believed Thaçi had made a significant effort to protect the innocent Serbian population, including those living north of the Iber River.

“I had concerns about what could happen later, but I could not say that Thaçi was someone who should be convicted of war crimes,” Clark said.

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“Croatia takes note of the first-instance judgement of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. This is a non-final verdict and we do not wish to prejudge the final outcome of the proceedings,” the Ministry said in a statement.

It said the verdict cannot change the historical context of the wars in Kosovo or the fact that Kosovo and its population have been victims of repression and serious crimes committed by Milosevic’s regime.

“At the same time, this verdict does not change the historical context of the wars in Kosovo, nor the fact that Kosovo and its population were victims of repression and serious crimes committed by the Milosevic regime,” the statement said.

“Individual responsibility of specific persons cannot serve as a basis for relativising these crimes, nor for calling into question Kosovo’s freedom and independence,” Croatia’s Foreign Ministry added.

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Nasim Haradinaj, a former deputy head of the KLA War Veterans Organisation, called on lawmakers to convene parliament and respond to the protesters’ demands.

“Let’s help them and send a message tonight that lawmakers should gather in parliament, whether in an extraordinary session or otherwise, and make a request tonight or tomorrow about the direction this people wants to take, after you promised to represent us,” he said.

Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK) lawmaker Ganimete Musliu backed Haradinaj’s call and urged lawmakers from all parties to join the protesters.

“I join your call. I invite all parties, without distinction, and all members of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo to be here with you today and inside parliament,” she said.

Other lawmakers and public figures also joined the protest, including Time Kadriaj and Albana Bytyqi of the Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK), PDK lawmaker Sala Jashari, the wife of former KLA commander Abedin Rexha, and former PDK lawmaker Safete Hadërgjonaj.

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In a statement, KASH raised concerns about the length of the proceedings, the defendants’ years-long detention, the proportionality of the sentences and the standards applied during the trial.

It stressed that the verdict should not be interpreted as a judgment against the people of Kosovo, the KLA or its war for freedom and independence.

KASH said the KLA’s war had been a “just and liberation war” against the repression, ethnic cleansing and systematic violence of Slobodan Milosevic’s regime. It said the conflict had received the support of the democratic world, while NATO’s intervention had ended a humanitarian tragedy that forced about one million Kosovo Albanians from their homes.

“The documented crimes of this regime – killings, massacres, forced expulsions and systematic persecution of the civilian population – cannot be relativised or equated with the freedom struggle of the people of Kosovo and its leaders,” the council said.

It said the verdict against the four former KLA leaders could not be interpreted as a judgment against the people of Kosovo or the KLA’s war.

“No court decision can tarnish the sacrifice of thousands of martyrs and victims, erase the historic right of the people of Kosovo to freedom, or overturn the fundamental distinction between aggressor and victim. The history of Kosovo and the liberation character of its war cannot be rewritten,” KASH said.

The council called on Kosovo’s international partners to maintain what it described as a clear and balanced position, saying respect for judicial proceedings should not lead to what it called a relativisation of Serbian aggression, a moral equivalence between the sides or a rewriting of the history of Kosovo’s liberation war.

KASH said it expected the appeals process to examine the evidence, legal conclusions, the determination of individual responsibility and the proportionality of the sentences with full impartiality and rigour, while ensuring the defendants’ right to a fair trial.

It noted that Wednesday’s verdict was a first-instance ruling and that legal remedies had not yet been exhausted.

At the same time, the council called on the international community to apply the same standards of justice to alleged mass crimes committed by Serbian state forces in Kosovo.

“Justice cannot be complete, equal and credible as long as many of those responsible for massacres, expulsions, sexual violence, destruction and enforced disappearances remain unpunished,” KASH said.

The council expressed solidarity with the people of Kosovo and the families of those convicted, calling for calm, unity, dignity and confidence in the legal remedies provided by law.

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The U.S. State Department told RFE/RL it respected the judgement and urged all parties to do so, too.

Washington also called for restraint and urged all sides to avoid inflammatory rhetoric following the verdict.

“We call on all parties to respect the court’s ruling, avoid inflammatory rhetoric and continue working towards a peaceful and democratic future,” the State Department spokesperson said.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague found the four former KLA leaders guilty of four counts of war crimes, while acquitting them of crimes against humanity.

Thaçi and Krasniqi were each sentenced to 25 years in prison, while Veseli received an 18-year sentence and Selimi 13 years.

Defence lawyers have said they will appeal the verdict.

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Kosovo police officers were deployed to protect the building. Video footage by KosovaPress showed masks bearing the face of former KLA commander Hashim Thaçi being distributed among protesters.

Although the protesters were mostly calm, stones were thrown at the EULEX building, breaking windows. Earlier, protesters were seen throwing flares towards EULEX offices.

Some protesters also attempted to force their way into the courtyard of the EULEX in Prishtina. Local media footage showed clashes between protesters and Kosovo police officers who prevented them from entering the premises.

A “Freedom Has a Name” flag was also placed on a Kosovo police vehicle.

The tensions followed the announcement of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers’ verdict in The Hague, which sentenced four former KLA leaders to prison terms for war crimes.

The situation in other parts of Prishtina was reported to be calm.

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Speaking to Radio Free Europe, EU spokesperson Guillaume Mercier said the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office should be allowed to carry out their mandates without interference.

“Justice must be allowed to run its course – something that is particularly important for the victims. The authorities have a responsibility to ensure the safety of all communities and residents across Kosovo,” Mercier said.

The EU said it “takes note” of the first-instance court ruling and said the Specialist Chambers were administering justice through “fair, impartial and independent” proceedings based on the principle of individual criminal responsibility.

Mercier also recalled that those convicted have the right to appeal the verdict before a separate panel of Appeals judges.

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