Byzantine Blog

Kostunica: EU to Speak Up

Serbian Premier Vojislav Kostunica called today the EU to make known its official stand on the acquittal of the Kosovo Albanian war criminal Ramus Haradinaj.

"Since the Hague tribunal made a sinister decision to officially certify Ramus Haradinaj's innocence and to issue a confirmation that he is not a war criminal, it is necessary for us to hear the official EU stand on this mockery of justice," Kostunica said in a statement for the press, reminding that the EU has been exalting the ICTY for years, treating it as the key parameter for continued cooperation with Serbia.

"If the EU still believes that, even after releasing Ramus Haradinaj, the Hague tribunal is an institution which has credibility and competence to condition the level of cooperation between Serbia and the EU, then it should clearly state so. In this way, the EU would claim the responsibility for the Hague tribunal's decision to declare Ramus Haradinaj innocent," Serbian prime minister said.

Kostunica stressed that every citizen of Serbia knows fully well that with this decision the Hague tribunal has rewarded crime and humiliated the innocent Serbian victims who suffered at the hands of Ramus Haradinaj.

ICTY Verdict Won't Wash Haradinaj's Hands

Kosovo-Metohija province's Deputy President of the Serbian National Council Rada Trajkovic said late on Thursday that the acquittal of Ramus Haradinaj cannot erase his guilt and the crimes he committed against the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija.

“Ramus Haradinaj remains a war criminal,” Trajkovic told Tanjug, adding that he is one of Kosovo Albanian criminals who killed indiscriminately and committed crimes not only against the Serbs in Kosovo province but also against the Albanians and Roma.

According to Trajkovic, in this sense Haradinaj's return to Kosovo-Metohija will be an “unpleasant event” for a number of Kosovo Albanians and even for part of the Albanian leadership, “because Haradinaj has great political ambitions and sees the majority of Albanian parties as competition.”

Cartoon by Z. Mihailovic (Serbia)