Macedonian Minister: We will continue to implement warrants against former KLA members

Macedonian Justice Minister Igor Filkov has said on Wednesday he speaks of arrest issued by INTERPOL, at Serbia's request, for former Kosovo Liberation Army soldiers (UÇK), continue to be applicable in northern Macedonia.

He stressed that statements by Northern Macedonia Prime Minister Hristian Mickoski on the issue during a visit to Kosovo are “misunderstanding”.

Mickoski had said during his visit to Pristina weeks earlier that “anyone who does not violate his country's” is “welcomed” in northern Macedonia, when asked about Serbia's demands for arresting former KLA members, whom Belgrade accuses of allegedly war crimes.

Filkov said Wednesday what “the prime minister there said did not concern us to collect any criminals, but it has to do with implementing justice and laws”.

Asked whether it speaks of INTERPOL's arrest, at Serbia's request, for former KLA members will be worth it if they go to northern Macedonia, Filkov answered briefly: “so far, worth”.

In July, Macedonian authorities arrested former KLA member Blerim Ramadani at the Jazynza ʹ border crossing that links Kosovo and Northern Macedonia on the basis of a warrant issued by the Court in Belgrade through INTERPOL Serbia, on charges of war crimes.

During an interview for Kosovo Radio Television (RTK) on November 18th, Mickoski hinted that Skopje will not continue to implement the arrest papers initiated by Serbia through INTERPOL.

“Anyone who has not violated the laws and Constitution of Northern Macedonia and who has no conflict with laws and the Constitution can come and stay in northern Macedonia. I think that's how it should be”, he said.

In August, Ramadani escaped from house arrest from the home of his relatives in northern Macedonia, where the court in Skopje was ordered to stay until 16 August, prompting reactions from Serbia.

After Ramadan's escape, Serbian Minister of Internal Affairs Ivica Dacic said they seek Explanation Macedonian authorities in this case.

He named it “scandalous” the escape from Ramadan's domestic arrest.

Serbian authorities accuse Ramadan of committing war crimes in the Nerodime region in the summer of 1999, according to the Kosovo Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora (MPJD).

The court in Skopje rejected Serbia's request for the extradition of Ramadan to Belgrade in August.