Richard Grenell, U.S. President Donald Trump’s Special Presidential Envoy for Special Missions, has sharply criticized the Hague verdict against former Kosovo President and KLA political leader Hashim Thaçi, calling the sentence “scandalous” and urging Kosovo to move toward dissolving the Kosovo Specialist Chambers.
In a post on X on September 16, following the first-instance judgment against four former KLA leaders, Grenell argued that international courts should not be making political decisions concerning Kosovo.
“The sentence announced by the Hague Tribunal against Hashim Thaçi for a war 25 years ago is scandalous,” Grenell wrote.
He went on to question the political neutrality of the proceedings, writing that “academic elites” were making political decisions through international courts.
Grenell also made claims about the political orientation of the three judges and the American prosecutor involved in the case. He alleged that they had ignored the views of advisers to former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who, according to Grenell, had made clear that Thaçi was not directing the war.
He specifically criticized Swiss judge Guénaël Mettraux, alleging that he had ignored legal issues and instead followed what Grenell described as the politics associated with former U.S. prosecutor Jack Smith.
These statements are Grenell’s own characterizations of the proceedings and the individuals involved; they have not been established as findings of the Hague court.
Grenell Calls for the Court to Be Defunded
Grenell went further by calling for the international courts involved in such prosecutions to lose their funding.
“All of these courts should be defunded immediately,” he wrote, urging the U.S. Department of Justice and Attorney General Todd Blanche to act.
“Americans are paying for these political prosecutions and this must end,” Grenell added.
He also directly addressed Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti, calling on him to act quickly to dissolve what Grenell described as a “foreign court.”
“Albin Kurti must also act quickly to dissolve this foreign court. MPs must work with Kurti to make this happen,” Grenell wrote.
He concluded with a direct statement about Kosovo's relationship with the Hague institution:
“Kosovo does not need a court in the Netherlands.”
The Hague Verdict
Grenell's intervention came immediately after the Kosovo Specialist Chambers handed down its first-instance judgment against Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi.
The four former KLA leaders received a combined 81-year prison sentence. Thaçi and Krasniqi were each sentenced to 25 years, Veseli to 18 years and Selimi to 13 years.
The verdict has triggered strong reactions in Kosovo and among Albanians internationally, with supporters of the former KLA leaders questioning the legitimacy and political context of the proceedings.
Grenell's intervention adds a prominent American voice to those criticisms, while the court and prosecutors have maintained that the proceedings concern the individual criminal responsibility of the accused rather than the KLA as an organization or Kosovo's struggle for independence.
The verdict remains subject to appeal.
Grenell's call for the court to be dissolved also comes as political debate intensifies in Kosovo over the future of the Specialist Chambers and the country's own role in addressing the legacy of the 1998–1999 war. Reports have emerged that Kosovo lawmakers were considering an initiative seeking an extraordinary parliamentary session on the institution's dissolution.
For Grenell, however, the central issue is straightforward: Kosovo should not allow a court based outside the country to determine matters that he believes should ultimately be decided by Kosovo's own political and judicial institutions.