On the International Day of the Disappeared, Kosovo’s institutional leaders paid tribute at the monument dedicated to missing persons, calling on Serbia to reveal the fate of those who remain unaccounted for.

They urged the neighboring state to put an end to what they described as its ongoing crime through denial and the concealment of mass graves.

“On the International Day of the Disappeared, as every year, we stand together with the families to raise our voice for justice, to raise our voice against this ongoing crime of Serbia. I call it an ongoing crime because beyond the atrocities committed in 1998–99 by Serbia, the enforced disappearance of loved ones of many families here in Kosovo is a crime that continues every day—by keeping them in mass graves, by failing to honor the agreements reached in Brussels to clarify the fate of these forcibly disappeared. Serbia commits a crime against humanity every day and violates international human rights conventions every day,” stated Kosovo’s President, Vjosa Osmani.

Parliament Speaker Dimal Basha stressed that Serbia bears both moral and international responsibility for this issue.

“This is a moral obligation but also an international obligation for Serbia to reveal as soon as possible the locations of all massacres and the whereabouts of the missing, whose families in our country are desperately waiting to learn their fate. I call on the international community to increase pressure on the authoritarian regime there to disclose the fate of the disappeared,” Basha said.

Meanwhile, acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti accused Serbia of obstructing efforts to uncover the fate of the missing, despite the Brussels Agreement.

“This year we have carried out 18 activities to search for the remains of our loved ones killed by Serbia, who were not only murdered but also had their bodies stolen. On the other hand, excavations in Kozhle, Serbia, have not yet started, while in Batanjoce near Belgrade they have not resumed, even though two years have passed since we reached both the Brussels Agreement and the related declaration. The denial of justice for our war victims is preceded by Serbia’s denial of the crimes it committed, which Belgrade continues to do officially,” Kurti declared.

Tributes on this occasion were also paid by representatives of the Quint states and other ambassadors accredited in Kosovo.