SHOTLIST: TIRANA, ALBANIA (OCT. 17, 2025) (ANADOLU – ACCESS ALL) 1. VARIOUS OF CROWD GATHERING AT SKANDERBEG SQUARE, HOLDING BANNERS, FLAGS TO SUPPORT FORMER KOSOVO LIBERATION ARMY COMMANDERS ON TRIAL IN HAGUE HOLDING 2. KLA VETERAN AGIM PLLASHNIKU SPEAKING TO REPORTER (Albanian) 3. VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS LISTENING TO SPEECHESTIRANA, ALBANIA - OCT. 17: Hundreds gathered in the Albanian capital, Tirana, on Friday, Oct. 17, to show support for former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commanders, including former Kosovan President Hashim Thaci, who are on trial in The Hague, Netherlands. The protest, held under the slogan “I am KLA,” took place in Tirana's Skanderbeg Square and included participants from Albania, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and the Albanian diaspora. Demonstrators, including former KLA soldiers, carried Albanian flags and various national symbols, chanting slogans in support of the commanders detained in The Hague: Thaci, Jakup Krasniqi, Kadri Veseli, and Rexhep Selimi. Agim Pllashniku, a KLA veteran who walked to Tirana from Kosovo’s capital, Pristina for 2 days, to join the protest, told Anadolu that he was happy he reached his destination. In a social media post regarding the protest, Albanian President Bajram Begaj stated that the KLA forms the foundation of Kosovo's freedom. “They (the KLA) are a source of pride in our national history. No one can ignore this legacy of courage, sacrifice, and heroism," Begaj added. The demonstration lasted about two hours and ended without incident. The former KLA commanders are accused of being responsible for the deaths of 100 people and are charged with war crimes, including murder, forced deportation, and torture. The indictment against them was confirmed on Oct. 26, 2020, and their detention in The Hague has continued since 2020. The Kosovo War (1998–1999) ended with NATO’s air and ground operations against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (then comprising Serbia and Montenegro). More than 10,000 Kosovars, most of them Albanian, were killed, and over 1 million Kosovars of different ethnic groups were forced to flee their homes. The KLA was founded by Kosovan Albanians in the 1990s to oppose Yugoslav forces and make Kosovo an independent country. After the war, the KLA was dissolved, and its commanders and soldiers joined the country's newly formed security institutions. Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on Feb. 17, 2008, but Serbia still considers Kosovo as its own territory.