Ambassador Christopher Hill, one of the most prominent figures in American diplomacy in the Balkans and a key negotiator on the Kosovo issue, during an interview with Euronews Albania, also spoke about his decision to testify in The Hague in the trial of former President Hashim Thaçi.
Hill shared personal reflections and spoke about the reasons that led him to participate in this trial, emphasizing the role of moral responsibility and the fact that there was no evidence of Thaçi's involvement in war crimes.
“He didn’t ask me for support, I talked to some people because I thought it was a moral responsibility and I really think it is a moral responsibility. I was there, in different places in Kosovo, I didn’t just stay in Pristina, I was in all these villages where there were war crimes. There were definitely war crimes, there were crimes where the perpetrators were Serbs against Albanians, but excuse me, there were other crimes too. But at that time I don’t know of any kind of crime that I could say was caused by Mr. Thaçi and he has now been in prison, in detention for about 5 years, and I felt it was a moral responsibility to go to The Hague, as I did, and I spent 3 days testifying and sometimes it’s difficult because the prosecutor was quite tough on this issue, but I felt it was unfair to keep him there. My concern was that there during the war, I saw a lot of things during the war, but I never saw Hashim Thaçi kill people or give "Orders to kill people, I didn't see anything like that. And when I was asked to testify, I agreed," he said.
The Ambassador also expressed the importance of clarifying the role of the KLA, emphasizing that it was not a unit fully commanded by Thaçi, but with independent actors.
“I think part of the idea is that what the prosecutors were trying to say is that the KLA was a very organized unit and that the order was given by the leader and executed by the person at the bottom. That was an exaggeration of the degree of vertical organization of the KLA. So I don’t think there is evidence from that time, there were also independent actors and I have mentioned something like that in my book. Sometimes when Mr. Thaçi would agree to something in Rambouillet and then go home and a permit was requested, I was surprised that he was responsible, but I felt it was important for the prosecutor and the three judges in The Hague to understand my point of view. I never accepted the idea that there was a KLA that had one person at the top, Thaçi, who was giving these orders. No, what I wanted to say is that I didn’t see evidence of that. And it has to be a judgment that has to be based on evidence, so I felt a moral responsibility to tell the story as it is. I felt. I don't claim to know everything but when asked, I would either say "I don't know" or I would tell you what I knew."
questions: How do you think this trial will end?
Hill: "I wish I knew, I wish I had a machine that could tell me the future, and I wish I had a time machine where I could go back in time..."
