BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia's president says the decision by Kosovo's prime minister to step down over a call for questioning by a Hague-based court investigating crimes against ethnic Serbs during and after the country's 1998-99 war is a "political trick."

Aleksandar Vucic said Saturday that Ramush Haradinaj's resignation was designed to rally popular support. He insisted it could fuel ethnic tensions and further stall efforts to relaunch talks on normalizing relations between the former war foes.

Haradinaj announced his resignation on Friday saying he does not want to appear before the court as prime minister. Haradinaj was a top ethnic Albanian rebel commander during the conflict.

A former Serbian province, Kosovo declared independence in 2008 which Belgrade does not recognize. The EU-mediated talks stalled last year over Kosovo's taxes on Serbian goods.