Pristina's sharp reactions: "Utter madness", "Milosevic's genocidal mentality"

Pristina's sharp reactions: "Utter madness", "Milosevic's genocidal mentality"

President Aleksandar Vucic referred yesterday to the verdict against Ivan Todosijevic, who has been sentenced to two years in prison for saying that the crime in Racak had been fabricated - as terrifying. Vucic said that he himself is repeating that it was a fabricated crime, and asked if we will all be convicted because of it.

"Members of the Serb List will repeat the same thing, and I am repeating it now - the crime in Racak was fabricated,, it was all falsified by that global fraudster, scammer and swindler Walker", Vucic said, adding that he will repeat this every day to see if we will all be condemned and whether they will try to deny the truth.

Vucic's statement was followed by the reaction of politicians in Pristina.

Hashim Thaci, the president of the interim institutions in Pristina, wrote on his Twitter account that Serbian officials "deny one of the worst crimes against civilians that has taken place in Europe", which the Hague tribunal claims was upheld. Thaci also said that Serbia must renounce "genocidal" policies because, as he said, reconciliation and justice cannot be built on the denial of crime.

Outgoing Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj wrote on Twitter that "the 1999 Racak massacre startled the world". He believes Vucic's denial shows that Serbia, as he says, "cherishes Milosevic's genocidal mentality".

Haradinaj also added that it is rather "shocking" that the so-called "EU leader" was harboring ethnic hatred and "minimizing the chances of peace and reconciliation in the region".

Foreign Affairs Minister in the outgoing government in Pristina, Behgjet Pacolli, also wrote on Twitter that he condemned the policy of denying war crimes by Serbia and President Vucic. "This is directed against the victims and it will hinder reconciliation process", Pacolli wrote.

Pristina diplomat in the US Vlora Citaku wrote that statements denying the crime are a disgrace to Serbia, and referred to Vucic's statement as "utter madness". "Racak was a tragedy which unfolded before the eyes of the world & revealed the true cruelty of the Serbian regime in Kosovo", Citaku claimed in a statement on her Twitter account.

The Serb List announces that it will invite all Serb representatives to leave Kosovo's institutions if the verdict against Ivan Todosijevic comes into effect.