Tensions in the north put on hold implementation of the Declaration of Missing Persons

The developments of recent months in northern Kosovo have also put on hold the implementation of the joint Declaration between Kosovo and Serbia for missing persons.

This statement, which was adopted in May this year, with European Union mediation, has remained only on paper.

But not on Kosovo's side, as according to the chairman of the government Commission for Missing Persons, Andy Hoti, Serbia is deliberately neglecting its implementation.

The “Declaration has been adopted by both sides, both sides have admitted that we have not only accepted that we and Serbia, and the Declaration also in the annex of Ohrid on one of the articles writes, that this issue should be urgently addressed and in the application of the Ohrid annex and the declaration, we are seeking to start the work Kosovo is seeking to implement the declaration because, for that we have gone to Brussels nearly two years, therefore we have harmonised it and that is the human issue <ex1>, said Andy Hoti, from the government Commission to disappear.

Hoti, who says the European Union should increase pressure on the Serbian state's side on this issue, says hopes Serbia will ever allow it to dig into its territory for missing persons, nor offer information about them.

Unfortunately, this issue has dragged on and I have not been in official form, but with as far as I know, there are the recent events that have occurred in the north of the country, especially the recent tendency of that criminal group led by official Belgrade, not to represent our faith and the near future that Belgrade will co-operate and address this issue as a humanitarian issue but our hope and confidence has removed<1>, Hoti has declared.

In response to Dukagjin from the European Union, they have said the EU expects the parties to make tangible progress in closing the unresolved cases of missing persons and in meeting their obligations and that implementing the declaration can only begin when the parties agree on the Reference Terma for the Joint Commission.

On May 2nd, 2023, under EU relief, Serbia's President Aleksandar Vuciq and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti adopted a Joint Declaration on Missing Persons. By adopting the Declaration, the two sides pledged to improve co-operation, including the identification of burial sites and the pursuit of excavations, and to avoid politicising an issue that is purely humanitarian. The parties also pledged to work together through a Joint Commission headed by the European Union and observed by the International Red Cross Committee (KNKK) with the aim of supporting efforts to resolve the fate of missing persons. The EU has welcomed the adoption of the declaration by the parties. Solving the issue of missing persons is not just a humanitarian obligation. It is also an essential opportunity for reconciliation and trust among people. The EU expects the parties to make tangible progress in closing the unresolved cases of missing persons and in meeting their respective obligations to families. Memories are fading, and individuals, places and events are more difficult to investigate. The implementation of the Joint Declaration has not yet begun. This will happen as soon as the parties agree on Reference Terms for the Joint Commission”, the European Union communiqué says.

There are about 1,000 and 600 missing people in Kosovo since the war ended.