A peace summit that was set to feature top officials from Kosovo and Serbia will be rescheduled after Kosovo’s president, Hashim Thaci, was indicted for war crimes by The Hague.
Thaci, who was charged with 10 counts of war crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the late 1990s, pulled out of the Saturday meeting after news broke about the indictment on Wednesday. The summit had been set to continue with Kosovo Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti, but that plan ended when Hoti announced Thursday that he would also be unable to attend.
“Due to the new developments in Prishtina as a result of the indictment submitted by the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office, I have to return to my country to deal with the situation. I informed Ambassador Grenell that I could not attend the June 27 meeting at the White House,” Hoti tweeted.
Richard Grenell, the special presidential envoy for Serbia and Kosovo peace negotiations, responded to Hoti’s tweet by announcing that the summit would be rescheduled.
“Thank you, Prime Minister Hoti. We understand your decision and we look forward to re-scheduling the meeting soon,” Grenell said.
Thank you, Prime Minister Hoti. We understand your decision and we look forward to re-scheduling the meeting soon. https://t.co/BNOygifIyY
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) June 25, 2020
The Hague has been investigating alleged war crimes that occurred during the conflict in which Kosovo Liberation Army guerrillas fought against Serbia for control. Although Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, Serbia still doesn’t fully recognize the fledgling nation’s claim to sovereignty.
“The indictment alleges that Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli and the other charged suspects are criminally responsible for nearly 100 murders,” the Kosovo Specialist Chambers said in a statement.
