Ramush Haradinaj has resigned due to a new court summons and president Vucic has labelled it a 'political trick' intended to fuel ethnic tensions.
ADVERTISEMENTThe Prime minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj resigned on Friday after a war crimes court in The Hague summoned him for questioning.
The serving president, Vucic, called his actions a "political trick" and a stunt to rally popular support. He said that it would fuel ethnic tensions and stall efforts to normalise the relationship between the former war foes.
Haradinaj told reporters “I received a call by the special court as a suspect and was offered to go as the prime minister or as an ordinary citizen of Kosovo. I chose the latter”.
It is not the first time that Haradinaj has been suspected of war crimes. In similar event to Friday’s resignation, Haradinaj had served as Prime Minister for only 100 days in 2005 before being indicted for war crimes by the International Criminal Tribunal of the former Yugoslavia. He was acquitted of this in 2008 and again in 2012 due to lack of convincing evidence.
During the 1998-1999 conflict in Kosovo Haradinaj was a regional commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army and his political career has been marred by allegations of torture and ethnic cleansing during that period.
Haradinaj has always denied all allegations against him, but this latest summons is yet another obstacle to his political aspirations.