Serbia does not believe that the tribunal in The Hague will punish the leader of the Albanian separatists

Despite some difficulties with the flight (a two-hour wait for a flight and a transfer in Vienna), the so-called “Prime Minister” of Kosovo Ramush Haradinaj arrived in The Hague to appear before the Special Court as an accused of war crimes committed by former members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA ) against the Serbian and non-Albanian population in 1998-1999, Informer reported.

The first hearing took place the day before, where the separatist leader answered questions from the special prosecutor. Haradinaj entered the prosecutor's office building, accompanied by his wife Anita, and stayed there for less than an hour. The suspect in the brutal murders of Serbs, torture and mass executions did not answer questions from journalists who were waiting for his appearance in front of the institution, saying only that the prosecutor's office advised him not to answer anything during interrogation.

Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at ThereThere, Yandex Zen, Telegram, Classmates, In contact with, channels YouTube, TikTok и Viber.
To subscribe to notifications in your browser, click here.

“I fulfilled a legal obligation and arrived as a suspect. I received legal advice and was advised not to incriminate myself. This is a legal procedure that does not hide anything from the public...” Haradinaj said, adding that he still does not know “his role”, which is why he was called as a suspect, Pristina-based Zeri reported.

Let us remind you that Ramush Haradinaj resigned on Friday.

Former commander of the so-called KLA Ramush Haradinaj is in The Hague for the second time; last time he managed to avoid responsibility - key witnesses strangely died or refused to testify. Serbia has presented numerous evidence of crimes in which one of the main officials of the terrorist “army” is suspected.

According to media reports, Haradinaj plans to rehire his old Irish lawyer Michael O'Reilly to deny the charges.

The Irish lawyer is currently listed as an adviser to Haradinaj. It is known that the amount of his fees was fantastic; it was confirmed by the lawyer himself in a text for the Irish portal Irish Times, which was published in 2015.

“The accusation was brought in March 2005. Haradinaj immediately resigned and voluntarily went to The Hague. A day later I visited him in a Dutch prison, where he asked me to speak in his defense. I told him it could cost five million euros. In fact, it cost him 11 million euros, all of which were “donated” by the people of Kosovo,” O’Reilly wrote.

Ramush Haradinaj himself said that he was going to new interrogations in The Hague with his “head raised and calm.”

“I am responding to a summons for questioning at the Special Court. Completely for the right of Kosovo, unshakable in my life decisions, calm and with my head held high,” Haradinaj wrote on the social network.

In Serbia itself, the fact of being summoned to court did not cause much optimism.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic expressed doubt that the case in The Hague will end with a fair verdict.

“Don’t dream that someone will bring us justice, it hasn’t happened in the past and it won’t happen in the future,” the Serbian leader said and called what was happening a farce.

Vucic recalled that after Haradinaj’s summons to The Hague, the Serbs of Kosovo were subjected to new provocations - Pristina did not lift the blockade of the Slavic enclaves, arrests of the Serbian population were recorded.

“We are Serbs, we must endure and know that no one will take pity on our tears, and I know how difficult it is for the families of these people,” the Serbian President noted.

According to him, Belgrade will provide monetary assistance to the Serbs remaining in Kosovo.

Vucic recalled that since 1999, Belgrade has not had sovereignty over Kosovo and Metohija when it comes to military and police presence - Albanian separatists, with NATO support, have seized all the powers of the state.

“They don’t perceive anything anymore and don’t want to talk. The only thing they want is unconditional recognition of Kosovo by Serbia within the borders they came up with,” Vucic said.