Pristina Assembly marks 18th anniversary of independence, demands justice for former KLA leaders
To the sound of the national anthem, the Pristina Assembly held a solemn session on the occasion of the 18th anniversary of Kosovo's independence. During this session, a call was made for justice for the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army who are being tried in The Hague.
While mentioning the importance of February 17 and the contribution of personalities to freedom, President Përparim Rama also demanded justice for the former leaders of the KLA.
"Today, February 17th dawned over our Kosovo again. The eighteenth since the day our state began to breathe its own name: the Republic of Kosovo. It is not a jubilee anniversary. However, the 18th marks the symbolic threshold where a person enters adulthood, and by natural analogy, we will also see our state today as an organism that is entering adulthood, with deeper responsibilities and increased duties. February 17th is not simply a calendar date. It is a dividing line between eras. It is a summary of sacrifice, resistance and our collective belief in the sanctity of freedom. And this freedom has names. It has faces. It has living stories. It was built on the sacrifice of political prisoners who kept the spirit of resistance alive in the most difficult years. It was strengthened through the peaceful and state-forming vision of Ibrahim Rugova. It was sealed with the blood of the liberation war of the Army Liberation Army of Kosovo and was crowned with the international partnership that transformed our right into a state reality. Today, on the same date that we celebrate independence, the capital also becomes the voice that cheers for those who carried the heaviest burden of the road to freedom on their backs. The trial in The Hague against the four leaders of the Liberation Army is now entering its final phase. Tomorrow, their final words are expected before the jury, before justice is withdrawn for a decision. They will be words that carry the weight of their lives, but also of our struggle; the weight of their future, but also of our future. And this makes this February 17 so special. Therefore, today, as representatives of the Capital, we have a duty to speak clearly and say: We demand justice. Pure justice. Justice based on solid evidence. Because justice that is built on guesswork serves no one. Whereas justice that is mixed with politics and "It loses its compass," said Rama.
Rama also called on citizens to participate in the protest that will be held today from 14:00 PM.
"Therefore, I invite you to join the parade that marks the age of maturity of our Kosovo as an independent state, and at 14:00 PM tonight, to prove our maturity as citizens, when the citizens of all of Kosovo and beyond will gather under the slogan "Justice, not politics", in the protest organized by the platform "Freedom has a name". This is a citizen's voice. A voice of dignity. A voice of national conscience. Our presence there also gives the protest institutional meaning. Because municipal assemblies represent the will of citizens. Because the capital speaks when its representatives stand next to those who paved the way for freedom. Because a mature state is also measured by the way it aligns itself with those who built it", Rama further emphasized.
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the Assembly, Fehmi Kupina, highlighted the country's history and the contribution of the KLA.
"Today, February 17, we have not come just to celebrate. We have come to remember, to humble ourselves and to prove that Kosovo's freedom has a name, a history and a price. Today we honor the day when a people small in number, but great in resilience, gave the world that Kosovo is free and will be free forever. Kosovo's independence was not born overnight. It was built with decades of suffering, with centuries of sacrifice, with persecution and mistreatment in prisons, with nameless graves, with mothers who waited for their sons and with children who grew up without fathers, but never lost hope. Since 1912, when the Serbian army occupied Kosovo, systematic violence was inflicted on the Albanian people. Villages were burned, families were massacred, people were expelled from their homes just because they were Albanians. An attempt was made to erase our language, our culture, our existence. But it never succeeded is extinguished; it was the will for freedom. After World War II, after 1945, repression continued in another form. The Slavic-communist regime sowed fear, imprisoned free thought and punished every voice that demanded equality. Political prisons were filled with Albanians who refused to submit. They were sentenced not for guilt, but for conviction. Political prisoners are the purest conscience of this state. They kept the idea of a free Kosovo alive, when hope seemed impossible. In the most difficult time of Kosovo, we also had a great guide: the historic President, Dr. Ibrahim Rugova, who gave our people faith, calm and vision. With patience and wisdom, he made the issue of Kosovo part of the international conscience and transformed our demands for freedom into moral causes of the democratic world. He taught us that peace is also a form of resistance for paths to freedom. But the moment came when peace faced extermination. When the word did not "It was enough, then freedom required greater sacrifice. The Kosovo Liberation Army arose as a historical necessity. It became the voice of those who had nowhere else to turn," said Kupina.
