Serb PM Slams War Crimes Suspect who Torched Croat Flag

Serbian ultra-nationalist Vojislav Seselj, who on Wednesday burnt a Croatian flag in public in Belgrade, does not represent Serbia, the country's prime minister said on Thursday.

"Mr. Seselj represents neither a parliamentary political party nor the state," Aleksandar Vucic said during a visit to Slovakia's capital Bratislava.

"I can assure you that Serbia is acting as a stabilizing factor in the region and that it will not send any irritating messages," he added.

Seselj, an alleged war criminal, set the flag ablaze in a deliberate act of defiance after the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) ordered him to return to his detention cell in The Hague.

Seselj was accused of leading ethnic Serb volunteers in persecuting Croats, Muslims and other non-Serbs during the 1990s wars in Croatia and Serbia, but pleaded not guilty on nine counts and is still awaiting the verdict.

The tribunal controversially allowed Seselj to return home to Serbia in November on "humanitarian grounds" for cancer treatment.

The 60-year-old torched the flag outside a Belgrade courthouse, saying it was a response to Croatian leaders who had welcomed Monday's order by the U.N. war crimes court revoking his provisional release.

Last week, during an event marking the 16th anniversary of NATO's bombing campaign against Serbia over its repressive policies in Kosovo, Seselj also burned the flags of NATO, the European Union, the United States and Kosovo.