Vuciq: We are ready for agreement to find out with Kosovo

“We are willing to sign agreements for people not found. We are aware that we have to live next to each other”, Vuciq said after the establishment of flower wreaths at the Kostare Heroes Monument in Belgrade.

Teams from Kosovo and Serbia have been met several times to discuss the issue of missing persons during the war in Kosovo in 1998-99.

The issue has also been raised in the context of dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia on normalising relations, which is held in Brussels, with the European Union's mediation.

A senior EU diplomat has said in late April that Kosovo and Serbia are “very close to” signing both agreements for missing persons, but officially, so far, no one has been reached.

Earlier, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti has demanded that Velko Odreovovic be dismissed from the Serbian Commission's position of head of Missing Persons, as he is a member of the Socialist Party of Serbia. The latter, in the 1990s, has been led by then-Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic.

During the war in Kosovo, about 13,000 people have been killed, over 800,000 displaced, while about 6,000 have disappeared.

Extinct, to this day, more than 1,600 remain.

Hundreds of victims of Kosovo Albanians have been found at mass cemetery in Serbia.

In recent research that was conducted at the Staff location, south of Serbia, it has been said that no mortore remains have been found. Research there has been conducted for 13 days in May.

The Government of Kosovo Commission for the Unemployed Persons has said that, even though it has repeatedly sought from representatives of Serbian institutions to share information from their archives, including for Sarajevo, “this did not happen”.

However, Odreovitch has denied it.

Vuciq placed the flower wreaths on the 23rd anniversary of the end of the battle in Kostunica's municipality of Ferizaj between members of the then Yugoslav Army and the Kosovo Liberation Army.

The battle has lasted several weeks in the spring of 1999, leaving dozens of warriors killed on both sides.

For Scholzi's statements: our “is to negotiate”

Vuciq commented on Tuesday also with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who, during a visit to Kosovo on June 10th, has said dialogue between Kosovo and Serbia should also resolve the issue of recognition of Kosovo.

Our “is to negotiate”, Vuciq said.

“As far as violating citizenship and territorial integrity, we respect the international public right in which the whole world is called. We just repeat what the West repeatedly says when calling for the respect of Ukraine's territorial integrity”, Vuciq said.

He added that, over the next period, he expects harsh “criticism against Serbia for Kosovo and for the “the establishment of restrictive measures” against Russia, due to Ukraine's invasion.

Asked by journalists whether the criticisms coming from the European Union are dangerous, Vucic said those “are not naive”.

Kosovo and Serbia have been negotiating the normalisation of relations since 2011. The sides have reached dozens of agreements in various fields, but the implementation of most of them has stalled.

Chancellor Scholz has met with Vucinqi as well in Belgrade last week.

During a joint media conference, Vucic has said that “sot [June 10th], for the first time, has heard at the media conference in Pristina, that someone from the European Union is demanding that Brussels' dialogue result in mutual recognition”.