“I believe that by mid-September we should have a date for the start of excavation or assessment of the location”, says Kushtrim Gara from the Kosovo Governmental Commission for Missing Persons.

The garbage dump near the village of Kozhle in southwest Serbia is one of the locations that, according to the Kosovo authorities, could hide the crimes committed by the Serbian forces against the Albanian civilians in Kosovo, during the 1998/99 war.

The Missing Persons Commission of the Government of Serbia confirms to Radio Free Europe that preparations have begun for the cleaning of the site and the construction of an access road, after which the search for the “Gollo Bërdo” landfill is planned.

The excavations will be carried out at the request of Kosovo, which has informed the Serbian side about the possibility that the remains of murdered Albanian civilians, who have been missing for more than two decades, have been buried in this country.

Gara tells to Radio Free Europe that information about this location has been provided by various witnesses and that preparations on the ground have begun on August 26.

This location, at the end of August, was also visited by representatives of the European Union mission for the rule of law in Kosovo, EULEX, together with officials from Kosovo and Serbia.

“This activity has been developed in accordance with EULEX’s commitment to support the relevant institutions – by offering the assistance of forensic experts – in elucidating the fate of more than 1,600 persons missing from the conflict in Kosovo”, says a EULEX statement given to Radio Free Europe.

During the 1998 and 1999 war in Kosovo, more than 13,000 civilians, mostly Albanians, were killed, while thousands more disappeared.

In the territory of Serbia, since the beginning of the 2000s, five mass cemeteries with almost one thousand bodies have been discovered.

According to the Red Cross, there are still 1,612 people missing from the war in Kosovo.