Pavkovic, 79, was sentenced by the International Criminal Court in The Hague in 2009 to 22 years in prison, for crimes against Albanians during the 1998-1999 Kosovo war. The verdict was confirmed in 2014 and he had been serving his sentence in Finland.

He surrendered to the court in 2005, which had been seeking him for his role as commander of the Yugoslav Third Army in Kosovo.

Serbian Prime Minister Djuro Macut said his successful release had been due to lobbying by the government.

Pavkovic "will continue his treatment in Serbia, with the support of his family and the health institutions of our country", Macut added.

Serbia's state broadcaster, RTS, said Pavkovic had been taken to a military hospital on arriving back in Serbia.

In May 2022, the court rejected a request for an earlier release, citing "the gravity of his crimes and the lack of rehabilitation".

Pavkovic was a close associate of nationalist strongman Slobodan Milosevic, who died in 2006 during his own war-crimes trial.

Milosevic and the Serbian authorities have long maintained they were legitimately fighting the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), which they branded a terrorist group.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, a move Belgrade still refuses to recognise.