Kosovo's former prime minister Ramush Haradinaj, arrested in France after Serbia accused him of war crimes, says the legal procedures against him amount to "abuse of the law".
In a telephone interview from France with AFP late Wednesday, Haradinaj said his arrest on January 4, over alleged atrocities committed during Kosovo's 1998-1999 war, was "unjust".
The 48-year-old, detained on the basis of a Serbian arrest warrant, was released on bail by a French court but must remain in France pending a ruling on an extradition request from Belgrade.
"It is abuse of the law, which is happening to a person who has carried out his obligations to local and international law," he said.
Haradinaj has twice been tried and acquitted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at The Hague over alleged war crimes committed in 1998, but Serbia now wants to try him for suspected atrocities in 1999.
During the late 1990s conflict, he was a leader of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), made up of ethnic Albanian insurgents fighting against Serbian forces. Some 13,000 people died in the war.
A decade later Kosovo declared independence from Serbia, but Belgrade has never recognised the move.
Haradinaj, who briefly served as premier from 2004, now leads a party opposed to his former comrade-in-arms, Kosovo's President Hashim Thaci.
He accused Kosovo's current leaders of showing weakness towards Serbia.
"It's a pity Pristina keeps such an inferior and servile official position" to Belgrade, he said.
Although Kosovo and Serbia began European Union-brokered talks back in 2011 to "normalise" relations, tensions have heightened in recent weeks -- partly owing to Haradinaj's arrest.
Haradinaj said threats voiced this week by a group of veterans if he was not returned to Kosovo were "understandable".
"Kosovo does not lack people capable of standing up," said the politician, who opposes the dialogue to improve ties with Belgrade.
"Only one issue is open for discussion with Serbia: the recognition of Kosovo. If Serbia is ready to accept it, let's sit down (at the negotiation table). If not, let's wait."
Ties further deteriorated over a train sent earlier this month by Belgrade towards Kosovo, painted in the colours of the Serbian flag and covered in the statement "Kosovo is Serbia" in multiple languages.
Thaci and Kosovo's Prime Minister Isa Mustafa met their Serbian counterparts in Brussels on Tuesday and agreed to try to ease tensions.