Kosovo: President Thaçi resigns and is being detained for warcrimes.
Following an indictment by the International Court in the Hague, Thaçi, President of Kosovo, resigned from his office and flew to the Netherlands, where he's currently detained. Thaçi is being accused of murdering hundreds of civilians, mainly Serbs, but also Albanians, during the Kosovo War between Yugoslavia and Albanian separatists. The atrocities were committed by the Kosovo Liberation Army, the independence military force of Kosovo, where Thaçi had a leading position. The KLA is an extremely controversial organisation, whose activities closely ressemble those of a mafia gang: They financed their activities through heroin smuggling and blackmailing, while they also didn't hesitate to resort to terrorism and rape, as well as to ethnically cleanse Kosovo from unwelcome minorities. Thaçi has even been accused of human organs trafficking. Of course, the Serbians weren't much better, but, unlike them, the KLA received an immense amount of foreign support, mainly from the United States, but also from Great Britain, in the forms of supplies, training and even aerial bombardment of hostile targets by the NATO airforce.
The victory in the independence war allowed the leadership of the KLA not only to evade persecution for its crimes, but also to monopolise political power in the newly born state. Foreign militants of the KLA, usually under the protection of its continuation, the Democratic Party (not so coincidentally, the leader of the party and a former president of Kosovo were also detained together with Thaçi)), are holding an extraordinary amount of influence in domestic affairs, engaging in smuggling, violence and widespread corruption. That miserable situation is tolerated by the principal pillar of the Kosovar authorities, which is the American embassy in Pristina. Thaçi has maintained excellent relations with Washington since the KLA days, but the support is alive and well even in 2020. Back in April, the coaltion government that was opposed to Thaçi and the Democratic Party desintegrated, due to a vote of confidence that was instigated and supported by the special envoy sent to Kosovo by the Trump administration. Thaçi was hostile to the fallen prime-minister, because of the latter's efforts to investigate the corruption of the Democratic Party, but Trump undermined the government, because, unlike Thaçi, it was unwilling to agree to a territorial exchange that could lead to a normalisation of the relations with Serbia. A diplomatic victory in the Balkans would be quite useful, just before the presidential elections in November.
An interesting video about the geopolitical situation in Kosovo:
In any case, the indictment and detention of Thaçi are good news, in my opinion. First and foremost, the condemnation of Thaçi and his partners in crime will be a legal and moral vindication for the victims of the various crimes he has committed. Secondly, it can also contribute to the gradual dismantlement of the deep-state established by former KLA militants. Obviously, Thaçi is just the tip of the iceberg and corruption can never be combatted effectively in a shirt time-span, but it's at least a step towards the right direction. Finally, it might encourage Albanian nationalists to judge the KLA a bit more critically. Despite the thousands of deaths and rapes the group is directly or indirectly responsible for, it is still being viewed positively in Albania and Kosovo, due to its prominent role in the war against Yugoslavia.
Kosovo: President Thaçi resigns and is being detained for warcrimes.
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