Sawt Falasteen - Thousands rally as EU chief urges respect for Kosovo war crimes court

A series of rallies have been held in Kosovo since Thaci was sentenced last month to 25 years for crimes committed during the struggle for independence from Serbia in the 1990s.

The Kosovo Specialist Chambers, based in the Netherlands, ruled that the ex-president and three other former Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) leaders were criminally responsible for murders, illegal arrests, torture and cruel treatment committed by KLA fighters during the conflict.

The lengthy sentences for the men, still largely viewed as heroes in the country, sparked outrage in the Balkan nation.

Speaking after a meeting with the country's prime minister Albin Kurti, von der Leyen said the court's "mandate must be fully respected".

"The defendants now have the right to appeal," she told reporters.

"But one thing is clear. This judgement is about the individual responsibility of the defendants. Kosovo's resistance is not on trial."

Kurti has previously said the court's decision contained "factual, legal and historical errors" and he would consider opposition proposals to change the court.

Earlier, as von der Leyen arrived, local broadcasters showed footage of a small group of protesters attempting to block her exit from the airport with a truck and a tanker.

Carrying banners emblazoned with "EU, you have betrayed us" and "Today Thaci, tomorrow Zelensky", they chanted the acronym of the KLA.

But the EU chief's motorcade was escorted under heavy police presence through a different exit.

Later, as von der Leyen met behind closed doors with students at the University of Pristina, thousands of protesters also gathered in the city centre as part of ongoing rallies against the court.

Demonstrators accuse the court of political bias for using evidence supplied by Serbia, which has never recognised its former province's independence.

Thaci was sentenced alongside former senior Kosovo Liberation Army figures Jakup Krasniqi, Rexhep Selimi and Kadri Veseli. They received sentences of 13 to 25 years in jail.

Y.AlMasri--SF-PST