The United States takes note and accepts the Hague war crimes tribunal's acquittal of Croatian generals Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac but played no role in their cases, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Friday.
Asked by journalists if the ruling would complicate the reconciliation of Croatia, Serbia, Kosovo and the Balkans in general, she said everyone should support the trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and their outcomes.
"When we created ICTY, as an international community and as a trans-Atlantic community, we all supported it. It was so that these accusations could be adjudicated in a manner that was open and that was transparent. So it's therefore incumbent on all of us to support the process and support the outcomes."
Nuland said she would like to clear up some misconceptions in the Balkans.
"Let me just say that the United States did not play any role in the Gotovina and Markac cases. We did not submit any briefs on behalf of either the prosecution or the defense and we don't have any particular comment on any issue in this case, but we do respect ICTY and we respect its rulings."
The ICTY appeals chamber on Friday quashed the trial chamber conviction of Gotovina and Markac, acquitting them and ordering they be immediately released from detention. The two generals arrived in Croatia in the afternoon aboard a Croatian government plane.
