Kosovo's lawmakers slam EU-backed court's war crimes verdicts of rebel leaders from war with Serbia

PRISTINA, Kosovo (AP) — Kosovo's lawmakers on Monday unanimously condemned recent war crimes verdicts by a European Union-backed court against four of its wartime rebel leaders, a rare act of unity in a Balkan country locked in a political crisis.

All 99 lawmakers present at the Parliament session approved a declaration that expressed concern over the convictions and urged authorities to act in what it described as defense of Kosovo's legacy of the 1998-99 war for independence from Serbia.

Earlier this month, a court in The Hague, Netherlands found former Kosovo President Hashim Thaci and three other former Kosovo Liberation Army commanders guilty of war crimes and sentenced them to between 13 and 25 years in prison.

Kosovo has criticized the verdicts as unjust, maintaining that the Kosovo Liberation Army, or KLA, which Thaci had led before entering politics, fought against Serbian oppression. Both residents and politicians fear the court ruling would tarnish the struggle.

The parliamentary declaration called for a “joint state strategy” to coordinate legal, institutional and diplomatic actions to “protect and affirm the full historical truth about the just war for Kosovo’s freedom and liberation.”

Kosovo's acting President Albulena Haxhiu read out the declaration in the parliament.

More than 13,000 people died during the conflict , which ended after a NATO bombing forced Serbia to pull out of Kosovo, at the time a Serbian province. Kosovo declared independence in 2008, which Serbia still does not recognize.

Since the verdicts were handed down, thousands have rallied against them throughout Kosovo, adding pressure on the government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti who has faced a prolonged political crisis after a failure to elect a president .

Kurti now faces a new, Oct. 6 deadline for the political parties to agree on who should be the next president. Otherwise, early elections would have to be held — the third in a year.

Some opposition parties have conditioned their agreement on who should be president with a new law that would seek to limit the scope of the Specialist Chamber at The Hague that tried Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Jakup Krasniqi and Rexhep Selimi.

Kurti has yet to respond to that demand. His government has promised support for the four in their appeals process.

The Netherlands-based court was established by Kosovo in 2015 with EU backing.

Kosovo has been told it must mend ties with Serbia if it wants to join the EU. An EU-mediated dialogue, however, has been stalled as tensions between former war foes continue to simmer.