The first-instance verdict in the trial of Hashim Thaci, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi and Jakup Krasniqi before the Kosovo Specialist Chambers was received in Belgrade and Pristina in a predictable manner: as yet another event interpreted through national political narratives.
Belgrade believes the sentences were not severe enough, that the court protected the interests of the Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA, and that it failed to sufficiently take into account the crimes committed against Serbs.
In Pristina, politicians deemed the verdict unjust, and thousands of people took to the streets to express support for the convicted former KLA leaders.
There is nothing new in such reactions. We have witnessed similar responses regarding the verdicts of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY.
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