Presidents of Kosovo

"We have several proposals for a declaration, we'll see... The only thing I can say is that I will stick to the principles adopted by the National Security Council of the Republic of Serbia two years ago," Vui told the gathered journalists.

She will meet with Serbian President Aleksandar Vui and Prime Minister Ana Brnabi.
Vui and Von der Leyen will first have a face-to-face meeting at the Palace of Serbia, followed by a meeting with members of the two delegations.

Kosovo on Thursday commemorated its annual Day of Forcibly Disappeared Persons with events intended to remember those who went missing during the 1998-99 war and to reiterate demands for justice.

Throughout the opening day on Monday, Albanians wearing the traditional plis cap or T-shirts emblazoned with the words "Liria ka emer" ("Freedom has a name") made their voices heard in the Dutch city as opening statements were delivered in the trial of Thaci and his wartime comrades turned politicians, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.

Jakup Krasniqi told the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague during opening statements in the case against him and three other ex-guerrillas that he denies the charges, some of which he described as "absurd".

Krasniqi, 72, told the court he had nothing to do with the war crimes and crimes against humanity mentioned in the indictment.

Hashim Thaci (centre) with Rexhep Selimi behind him in court on Monday. Photo: EPA-EFE/Koen van Weel/Pool.

Using video footage of statements from the 1990s as well as documents found in some of the defendants' homes, lead prosecutor Alan Tieger showed the court KLA communiques and orders for arrests, which he said was evidence that the guerrilla force targeted political opponents.

Sejdi Zymeri's house in the village of Likovc/Likovac is close to where the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA used to have its headquarters in the Drenica region, the guerrillas' wartime heartland.

On April 3, the four wartime leaders will be together again, this time before the prosecutors at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague courtroom to hear the charges against them read out in the courtroom as their trial for war crimes and crimes against humanity begins.

The prosecution's presentation of evidence in the case against former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three other former senior Kosovo Liberation Army, KA guerrillas at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague could go on for six-and-a-half years, presiding judge Charles Smith III told a case status conference at the court on Monday.

Marc Weller, an adviser to the Kosovo negotiation team in the dialogue with Serbia since the historic Rambouillet accords in 1999, told BIRN the recently published draft agreement between the two countries for the first time puts Kosovo in a better strategic position than Serbia - which must make constitutional changes if the agreement is signed.