Thaci angers West by accusing it of broken promises

Thaci angers West by accusing it of broken promises

Instead these countries pointed out to the failures of institutions in Pristina, for which, they said, Thaci is responsible.

On Monday, during the presentation of a report on the perception of citizens on the Specialist Chambers (the special court for KLA crimes) - produced by an NGO - Thaci , a former KLA leader, said he had agreed to the formation of the court in order to maintain strategic partnership with the US, the EU and NATO.

"I agreed to lead an unjust historic process towards Kosovo, despite the overwhelming political and civic thinking towards the formation of this court," Thaci said, and added that Pristina, on the other hand, had been "promised" that if the special court was formed, "we would soon become a member of the Council of Europe (CoE), that we would be granted visa liberalization, that we would have massive support for membership in UNESCO, that we would establish the armed forces, and get new recognitions of Kosovo's independence," said Thaci.

Kosovo, Thaci continued, kept its word and established the court - "but the international community did not fulfill any of its promises. Instead, the European road of Pristina is now more difficult."

The establishment of the tribunal came as an international political need, Thaci pointed out, stressing that Pristina should look at it as "an advantage and an opportunity to clean a smear," the media reported.

"As president I am working in ascertaining the truth and reaching reconciliation. But the special tribunal will only try to bring justice by going after the injustice that took place in Kosovo. The question is whether it will bring the truth and whether this court will bring inter-ethnic reconciliation," he warned and added that because the court was formed only to put Albanians on trial for crimes committed against Serbs - "enthusiasm for the Serbs and Serbia has been growing in the meantime."

He also said the international community called for the creation of the court out of a political need rather than the desire to truly bring justice.

As Thaci was criticizing the international community, British Ambassador in Pristina Ruairi O'Connell, who attended the presentation, left the room.