Serbian Foreign Ministry: Albanian Diaspora Planning to Siege Diplomatic Mission

Serbian Foreign Ministry possesses information on a possible siege of the state’s diplomatic mission in the United States or Europe, which is being planned by Albania’s diaspora in the light of the upcoming trial over the case of the former Kosovo guerrilla commander and Prime Minister Ramush Haradina, Serbian Foreign Minister Ivica Dacic said.

BELGRADE (Sputnik) – Haradinaj, now the leader of the opposition Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) was detained on Wednesday by police at Basel Mulhouse Freiburg airport in eastern France due to a Serbian arrest warrant that alleges that he committed war crimes during his time as a guerrilla commander. A court session regarding his case is scheduled for January 12.

"We have the information on a seizure of one of our [Serbian] diplomatic mission in the United States or Europe, which is being plotted the Albanian diaspora in order to make Serbia drop its demand to trial Haradinaj," Dacic said Monday, as quoted by the Serbian Foreign Ministry.

Dacic added that police and security services of the concerned states had been informed on the matter.

On Thursday, Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic said Belgrade would demand the extradition of Haradinaj from France.

Haradinaj served as a rebel commander in the Kosovo Liberation Army in the 1998-1999 Kosovo conflict and Serbia alleges he oversaw a brutal campaign against ethnic Serbs. He has consistently denied the allegations.

Serbia does not recognize Kosovo as an independent state, which was unilaterally proclaimed in 2008; it continues to consider Kosovo part of Serbia. Kosovo is recognized by 23 out of the 28 EU member states.