Aleksandar Vučić: Hague court sought to preserve KLA credibility, verdict not cause for celebration

Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić said on the evening of the court verdicts that there should be no euphoria over the first‑instance sentences handed down against former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

Vučić urges restraint, stresses stability

"What happened should not be received with any euphoria or in any way; rather we should wait patiently and understand the messages that arrived today," Vučić said, urging calm in the region. He added that the preservation of peace and stability is crucial for Serbia.

Vučić also claimed that the Specialist Chambers in The Hague did not establish suspicions of a widespread or systematic attack on the civilian population because, in his view, the court did not want to undermine the credibility of the KLA.

He further warned that Serbia had not been sufficiently prepared to confront its own mistakes and crimes committed in its name, and said he believed the way forward lies in dialogue and greater understanding: "We were not sufficiently prepared to confront our own mistakes and the crimes committed in our name, but I believe that in the future the solution certainly lies in dialogue and greater understanding."

The Specialist Chambers in The Hague delivered first‑instance convictions today against four former KLA leaders — Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi — finding them guilty of murder of a total of 96 people described as political opponents and collaborators of Serbian security forces, as well as arbitrary detention of 385 people, torture of 303 and inhuman treatment of 50.

According to the verdicts, and based on their individual responsibility for committing, assisting and instigating those crimes during the Kosovo War (1998–1999), Thaçi and Krasniqi were sentenced to 25 years in prison each, Veseli to 18 years and Selimi to 13 years.

Photo: press material from the event