Secretary General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Serbia Veljko Odalovic delivered today a protest note to the Ambassador of the French Republic in Belgrade, Christine Moro, following the scandalous decision of the Court of Appeal in Colmar, rejecting the request of the Republic of Serbia for the extradition of Ramush Haradinaj.

The note presents the position of the Government of the Republic of Serbia that this is a politically motivated decision, which is not legally grounded and whose reasoning has disregarded the documentary evidence submitted by the Republic of Serbia, including the statements of the survived witnesses. It is pointed out that the Colmar Court of Appeal did not state any fact proving that the requirements of the European Convention on Extradition, signed in 1957 in Paris, ratified by both the French Republic and the Republic of Serbia, have not been fulfilled.

It was emphasized that this decision constituted a violation of the universal principle of international law on the prevention of impunity for war crimes, and that particularly unacceptable was the statement that the extradition of Ramush Haradinaj to Serbia would have very serious consequences for him, expressing the lack of trust in the legal system of the Republic of Serbia.

It is estimated that the decision of the Colmar Court of Appeal is offensive and deals a heavy blow to bilateral relations between the Republic of Serbia and the French Republic.