Prishtina, 6 October 2026
Dear journalists,
Dear citizens,
Welcome to this press conference.
We have never linked the issue of the sentencing of the leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army in The Hague with the internal political and institutional developments here, and consequently, neither with the issue of the President. These are separate issues for us. But both are issues that go beyond one party; they go beyond all parties. They are matters of common state and national interest. With regard to the four convicted persons at first instance, on the one hand, we believe that the verdict can be corrected on appeal, and, on the other, we need a state and national strategy to win this battle.
But we cannot deny the immediate obstacles that stand before us on the way to that goal, which is one we all share, namely the issue of electing a new President. Because failing to elect him or her takes us directly to elections, and not only does it take us to elections, but it prevents all of us from dealing both with the state and national strategy and with the appeal, which in fact is very urgent. We cannot wait until next year to start dealing with the appeal; we must start dealing with it this month.
Without a president today, Kosovo will be in an election cycle for months and without functioning institutions. Under these circumstances, the election of the President is an emergency, so that we can elect the President, remove this pressure on the state, and devote all our energy, attention and focus to defending our people’s struggle for freedom and the former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army in The Hague.
Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi are in prison in The Hague. They have been convicted at first instance, while tonight, at midnight, we may go to elections here, as if nothing has happened. We need to understand and address this sincerely: the matter there will take time, commitment and, indeed, a lot of nerves, and we will not perform any miracle overnight simply because we vote on a Draft Law. We all need to be prepared for this. Meanwhile, to make matters even worse, by failing to elect the President tonight, we will be heading to elections within hours.
It is paradoxical, as well as harmful, to say that there is no issue more important than the Specialist Chambers and the defence of the former leaders of the KLA, and then send the country into elections to elect a President. Given the priorities we have and must have, the first thing we need to do to move forward is to remove the immediate obstacles that affect all of us, together, today, now and here. And that is the issue of the President. The Specialist Chambers is an issue on the horizon ahead of us, but right from the very beginning, that is, today and tonight, we have the issue of the President, which, through recklessness, may obscure that horizon even further by sending us back to unreasonable, unnecessary and costly elections.
Let us not forget that we have consistently been constructive, responsible and cooperative. We have taken four steps towards fulfilling the demands of the Democratic Party of Kosovo: we made the joint declaration in the Assembly; the Government approved the response to the legislative initiative concerning the Draft Law; we called yesterday’s session with 40 signatures to address that Draft Law; and there we voted on it at first reading. We take these things for granted, but they would have been impossible without the vote of Vetëvendosje Movement. We had not a single moment of hesitation on any of these matters. We took four steps towards them; the PDK took not a single step towards us. This is unfair and unhelpful.
On the other hand, allow me to commend the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo and the Members of the Assembly for the passage of several other draft laws yesterday, such as the one on the Bureau for the Verification and Confiscation of Unjustifiable Assets; the Ratification of the Loan Agreement between the Republic of Kosovo and the French Development Agency for the Project for the XXI Mediterranean Games in Kosovo; the votes on IPA funds; the draft laws on Preventing Money Laundering and Combating Terrorist Financing; then the Draft Law on the Recruitment, Performance Evaluation, Integrity Checks and Status of Judges and Prosecutors; the one on the Kosovo Judicial Council; the Draft Law on Energy; and so forth.
At last night’s meeting, we left open the possibility of meeting again today, but since the Chairman of the PDK, Hamza, does not want to meet with me anymore, I am addressing you at this press conference. You know that I have not spoken until now during the four meetings we have had. I have wanted, and I still want, an agreement and transparency in the negotiating process, but definitely confidentiality regarding the talks themselves. But now Bedri Hamza has imposed an ultimatum on us and refuses to meet. Therefore, we have no other choice but to address you in this way.
Not only do they no longer want cooperation, they now do not even want a meeting. So how can an agreement be sought without a meeting, without discussion, without cooperation?
You know that we also voted for Vlora Çitaku as Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, since she could not have been elected without our votes, whereas, on the other hand, First Deputy Speaker Ardian Gola did not need the votes of the PDK. Then we voted on the declaration concerning the judgment of the Specialist Chambers in The Hague; we called the extraordinary session of the Assembly with 40 signatures, which they themselves would not have been able to call because they have 22 MPs, while 40 are required. We called the session and placed the Draft Law on the Specialist Chambers first on the agenda, which we had previously approved for processing through a decision of the Government of the Republic of Kosovo after receiving the opinions of the Budget Department of the Ministry of Finance, the Legal Office of the Ministry of Justice, and the Office here at the Prime Minister’s Office, including that of European Integration. And the culmination of all these steps came yesterday, when we voted on the Draft Law at first reading, in principle, which is a very important vote. It is a vote in principle. These are concrete actions demonstrating our readiness to cooperate in good faith. Four steps towards them, not a single one from them towards us. Now they do not even want to meet and are setting their positions in the form of ultimatums.
For the past two years, I have invited them to meetings. They usually refused; three weeks ago, they started coming, and today they are refusing again, both the meeting and cooperation, and consequently the agreement as well.
So, they refuse the meeting and cooperation, they refuse talks, but at the same time they are asking for 53 blank-cheque votes from Vetëvendosje Movement, while they themselves do not even have half as many MPs as Vetëvendosje Movement. Vetëvendosje, together with its partners, has 62 MPs as the majority. We have 62, they have 22. And yet they want our votes to be there, ready and available to them. Meanwhile, we are expected to beg them, and now we cannot even meet with them. It is as if they behave as though they have the support of the citizens, which in fact they did not receive. In fact, we received it. The winning political subject in the elections is Vetëvendosje Movement.
An agreement cannot be reached by refusing dialogue. Cooperation requires the parties to sit at the table and for each to assume the responsibility that belongs to it and act on the basis of the support it has. And today we have two concrete responsibilities: the election of the President and the voting on the law.
Dear journalists,
Dear citizens,
The law is urgent, but the President is an emergency. The President must be elected today, while the law can be voted on later, while also respecting the 72-hour deadline under Article 85 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo.
Allow me to read the first paragraph of Article 85 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo:
Article 85, Accelerated Procedure for the Consideration of Draft Laws.
Point 1. The first reading of a Draft Law under the accelerated procedure may not take place earlier than 48 hours from the distribution of the materials, while the second reading may not take place earlier than 72 hours from the day of approval in principle, except in a state of emergency or upon the declaration of an emergency situation.
Seventy-two hours must pass from Monday morning. Let us elect the President tonight, and I publicly pledge before you that by Thursday morning the second reading of the Draft Law on the Specialist Chambers will take place. That is, we will vote on the Draft Law on the Specialist Chambers at second reading, and we will do so in compliance with the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly. Seventy-two hours means Thursday morning.
We cannot violate the Rules of Procedure for an additional reason as well. And that is the Constitutional Court judgment of 9 January this year, nine months ago, which states the following in point 183, at the end: Consequently, the Court considers that the procedures set out in Article 85, the accelerated procedure for the consideration of draft laws, and Article 86, the urgent procedure for the consideration of draft laws of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly, were not applied in the circumstances of the case at hand.
And the Court has already struck down 13 such draft laws that we had passed through two readings. In January this year, the Constitutional Court struck down this practice, which is now being imposed on us as an ultimatum.
Therefore, if they truly seek a solution, the solution exists. It is achieved through a meeting, discussion, cooperation and agreement. But if they refuse the meeting, discussion, cooperation and agreement, then the issue is no longer that they do not want a solution, but that they want elections.
Dear journalists,
Dear citizens,
Finally, since we are in the final hours before the deadline for electing a new President, we are making one additional and concrete offer: if the Democratic Party of Kosovo publicly pledges to secure at least half of the votes of its MPs for Prof. Bekim Sejdiu, given that we have the remaining votes together with the LDK, based on the political agreement and subsequent statements, then we will proceed with the second reading. But we are asking the PDK, publicly, since we can no longer meet with them, to pledge before you, before the public and before the citizens of Kosovo, that at least half of their parliamentary group can come to the session and vote, even if against Bekim Sejdiu.
In other words, they have asked us for votes IN FAVOUR; four times we have been ready to provide those votes. Four times, votes IN FAVOUR. I am asking half of them to vote AGAINST Prof. Bekim Sejdiu, who is not from Vetëvendosje Movement. Do you understand? So, whenever they have asked us, we have been ready to vote IN FAVOUR; I am asking half of them to vote against him. Now, if they want to vote IN FAVOUR, that is fine, we have no objection, but we are also prepared for their opposition, as long as they participate in the session and do not boycott it.
With Prof. Bekim Sejdiu, we have a unique opportunity before us. Even if there are not 18 members of the Democratic League of Kosovo, there are 11 or 12! And if the PDK does not have all 22, do they have 11?! Is Bedri Hamza himself one of the ten?! Let him come with nine others. And on the other side, with the LDK as well, we can elect the President.
As Chairman of Vetëvendosje Movement and as Prime Minister of the Republic, I guarantee you that all 62 MPs of the majority will be there to vote on the second reading of the Draft Law on the Specialist Chambers on Thursday morning, this week.
Thank you very much, and now we will be able to answer your questions!
