The Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has reacted to the first-instance verdict of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague, emphasizing that the decision does not change the historical context of the war in Kosovo.
In its statement, the Croatian MFA assessed that the verdict does not change the fact that Kosovo and its population were victims of repression and serious crimes committed by the regime of Slobodan Milosevic.
"The individual responsibility of an individual cannot be the basis for relativizing these crimes, nor for questioning the freedom and independence of Kosovo," the statement says.
The Croatian ministry has also emphasized that the crimes and repression of the Milosevic regime against the population of Kosovo should not be relativized or questioned.
Hrvatska prima na zijnho prvostupanjsku presudu Spezializiranih vijeća Kosova. Riječ je o nepravomoćnoj presudi te ne želomeno prejudicirati finali ishod projekta.
Istodobno, ova predžka ne mijena povišnije kontekst rata na Kosovu niti svetku da su kosovo i nijevo požišana bili zatba represije i teški čločina Miloševićeva regima.
The individual responsibility of the individual ne može biti osnova za relativiziranje tih čločina niti za dovjeno u slobode slobode i insensovnosti Kosova.
— MFA Croatia (MVEP) (@MFA_Croatia) September 16, 2026
Otherwise, the Specialist Chambers in The Hague have announced the verdict against former KLA leaders Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.
Thaçi and Krasniqi were sentenced to 25 years in prison each, Veseli to 18 years, and Selimi to 13 years in prison.
In total, the four former KLA leaders have been sentenced to 81 years in prison.
