Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci’s threat to sue Serbia for genocide at the International Court of Justice has been criticised for being legally impractical and a potential misuse of resources.

Thaci has been accused of a political gaffe after saying at the weekend that Kosovo is considering suing Serbia for genocide committed during the 1998-99 conflict with Belgrade’s forces.

“Serbia definitely committed genocide in Kosovo. We have evidence, we have testimony and the entire world knows,” he told Turkish news agency Anadolu.

The Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, told BIRN that Palestine would not recognise Kosovo as an independent state. “We have good relations [with Kosovo] but we don’t interfere in conflicts between countries. We distance ourselves and we stay away from all the conflicts, because we don’t want to be here or there,” he said. The President said he was happy to offer Kosovo his “moral support” but no more. “They are friends, they are our people. But, because we have our problems, we hope that they will find a solution for themselves, without our interference,” Abbas said.

Hundreds of Kosovo Albanians gathered in the village of Recak/Racak to mark the 16th anniversary of the massacre of 44 people by Serbian security forces in 1999.

Petrit Collaku | BIRN

Pristina