Serbian Prime Minister Ivica Dacic said on Thursday that the acquittal of former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) commander Ramush Haradinaj was expected and that this was "the latest in a series of political and not legal and just verdicts of the tribunal", stressing however that "despite it all, Serbia will continue dialogue with Pristina, as that is in Serbia's interest."
"It is in Serbia's interest to resume dialogue and continue with European integration processes," Dacic told the state news agency Tanjug, commenting on the ICTY acquittal of Haradinaj and two of his accomplices.
Dacic underlined that this verdict and the acquittal of Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac "will hamper the reconciliation process in the region", stressing however that Serbia would resume dialogue with Pristina.
Dacic said the next meeting between Belgrade and Pristina officials was scheduled for 4 December.
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) acquitted former Kosovo prime minister Ramush Haradinaj of charges of crimes against humanity at the end of his retrial on Thursday.
Presiding Judge Bakone Justice Moloto said the tribunal acquitted Haradinaj and two other indictees Lahi Brahimaj and Idriz Balaj of all responsibility and ordered their release.
Haradinaj said he would return to his position as prime minister which he left in 2005 when the ICTY indicted him.
His attorney Ben Emmerson told reporters that former ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla del Ponte should apologise to Haradinaj and the people of Kosovo because it is clear now that the indictment should never have been issued in the first place.
