RECKONING

President of Kosovo Resigns Over War Crimes Charges From The Hague

Hashim Thaci went from being the disputed nation-state’s most powerful leader to a suspect in custody of The Hague over alleged war crimes from the late 90s.

The Republic of Kosovo’s president resigned Thursday to face international war crimes charges from the Hague, The Washington Post reports. Hasim Thaci, whom the International Court of Justice has accused of conducting “abductions, detentions, mistreatment, and killings” of Serbian opponents in the Kosovo Liberation Army in the 1990s, told reporters in Pristina, the country’s capital, that he was stepping down to “to protect the integrity of the presidency of Kosovo.” Thaci said he denied the charges and flew to the Netherlands later the same day. Having served as president since 2016, Thaci began his career as a militia leader in the army before becoming a politician when the region declared independence from Serbia in 2008. The conflict between Serbia and Kosovo remains ongoing, with Serbia refusing to recognize the small nation-state’s sovereignty, a conflict that has prevented Serbia from joining the EU.