Prishtina, 30 August 2026
On the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, the Acting Prime Minister of the Republic of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, together with the Acting President, Albulena Haxhiu, the Acting Minister of Internal Affairs, Xhelal Sveçla, other institutional representatives and representatives of family associations, as well as ambassadors and other diplomats accredited to our country, paid tribute and laid fresh flowers at the Memorial to the Persons Forcibly Disappeared.
Full statement by Acting Prime Minister Kurti:
Together with the Acting President of the Republic, Ms. Albulena Haxhiu, Minister Xhelal Sveçla and other colleagues from the institutions of the Republic, as well as the associations of missing persons, that is, persons forcibly disappeared, we laid fresh flowers and paid tribute here at the memorial, which reminds all citizens of the Republic, and especially our institutions, that there are families for whom the war has not yet ended.
There are more than 1,500 missing persons whose families continue to live with anxiety, grief and suffering, which we can neither fully describe nor truly comprehend, because they do not have a dignified grave for their loved ones, who are not simply numbers, nor merely names and surnames, but people who today would be doctors, engineers, workers and managers, architects and professors, and who would contribute to the economic and social life of our country. They would also bring joy to their families and have families of their own. Therefore, this is a very serious crime that must be fully uncovered, and justice must be served.
This year, the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances finds us five weeks after the first findings were made during excavations in northern Kosovo, namely in the village of Kalludra, where two mass graves have so far been uncovered. One contains 13 sets of human remains, the other 6, while we also have a third mass grave containing at least 4 sets of human remains, in the village of Jabuka, one kilometre from Kalludra in the north of the country.
Let us also not forget the 2 May 2023 declaration, through which Serbia committed to cooperating in opening its archives so that the truth could be established.
I must reiterate that one of the most important files that must be declassified is that of the 37th Motorised Brigade of the Yugoslav Army, which carried out numerous massacres in Kosovo, particularly in Drenica. We cannot wait until 2044 for these archives to be opened. They should have been opened yesterday, or the day before yesterday. Meanwhile, they were classified precisely in 2014, when the current President of Serbia, Vučić, was Minister of Defence and also coordinator of the intelligence services. Now, just imagine: the person who is today the President of Serbia was, in 2014, when the files of the Yugoslav Army that committed crimes in Kosovo were classified, particularly those of the 37th Motorised Brigade, the Minister of Defence and the coordinator of Serbia’s intelligence and security services.
Therefore, now that 12 years have passed since these files were classified, we cannot wait another 18 years, until 2044, for them to be opened. They must be opened as soon as possible.
We also thank the ambassadors accredited to the Republic of Kosovo who were present here with us today to pay tribute to the missing persons. But at the same time, we call on all international actors, and in particular the European Union, which Serbia seeks to join and from which it receives hundreds upon hundreds of millions in funds, to exert pressure for these files to be opened.
For us as a state, the cost of conducting excavations and searches is very high, and we are losing a great deal of time. The information we receive is incomplete, then it turns out to be inaccurate, and it is very frustrating for the state authorities as well to carry out all these excavations and nevertheless find not many human remains. These excavations would not need to be carried out blindly if we had access to the files in Belgrade. Therefore, it is costing our state a great deal, not only the families, but the state as well, that the files in Belgrade remain closed.
Therefore, the opening of the files of our northern neighbour is vital for establishing the truth, for the dignified burial of our loved ones, and especially for their families, who continue to wait in anguish, as well as for contributing to overall peace in our region.
Never before has there been as much coordination among the institutions dealing with the issue of forcibly disappeared persons as there is now.
As the President also mentioned, the Kosovo Police, the Kosovo Intelligence Agency, especially the Unit for the Investigation of Crimes Committed During the War, the Institute of Forensic Medicine, the State Prosecutor’s Office, the Government Commission on Missing Persons — all of these institutions are working closely together. Much more work is being done than before, and we are working together much more closely than before.
Thank you!
