Kosovo’s new ruler accused of war crimes

A FORMER guerrilla commander accused by Serbia of war crimes is set to become Kosovo’s prime minister following Sunday’s election.

A broad coalition, dubbed the “war wing” because of its association with former guerrillas from the 1998-99 Kosovo-serbia war, polled over 34 per cent of the votes after 91 per cent of the ballot papers had been counted yesterday.

Ramush Haradinaj, the centre-right coalition’s candidate for prime minister, is wanted by Belgrade for war crimes allegedly committed during the 1999 conflict, and earlier this year the authorities tried to have him extradited to face trial. Belgrade still refuses to recognise its former province’s independence, and the status of Kosovo’s Serb minority has been a constant source of friction.

The election comes as Russia, an ally of Serbia, has stepped in to exploit a power void left in the Balkans by a West distracted by domestic concerns, in an effort to stymie EU and Nato expansion.

“The so-called ‘war coalition’ … is a group that has openly threatened Serbs, and that will create a lot of problems for us,” said Aleksandar Vucic, the Serbian president, yesterday.