Statement for the Missing, EU: Implementation has yet to begin on sides, dialogue affects people both in Kosovo and Serbia

European Union spokesman Peter Stano at his latest media conference has also been asked about the declaration of missing persons agreed on by Kosovo and Serbia last year, but which has yet to be implemented.

Stano said Vuciq and Kurti in May last year adopted the joint declaration on the issue, but that joint implementation, as he said, has not occurred.

This particular issue, which is very important for people, because it's actually about people, very important for the families of those who are still missing. Once again, I can only remember that it was in May 2023 when President Vuciq and Prime Minister Kurti adopted a joint declaration on the very issue. This statement contains issues involving exchange of information, joint identification of burial sites, effective prosecution of excavations, etc. But the implementation of the joint declaration, unfortunately, has not yet begun”, he said.

The EU spokesman stressed that such a thing has been discussed at the last meeting on October 24th, and said they expect there will be reactions and can move forward.

The issue of missing persons -- and generally dialogue -- Stano said it affects people of both countries, both in Kosovo and Serbia.

This will only happen when the parties accept or agree to terms of reference to the joint commission. That didn't happen. This has been discussed last time at the meeting of the chief negotiators in Brussels on 24 October. And while an agreement has not been reached, it is accessible and we still expect reactions on certain aspects. We hope we will get reactions very soon so that we can move forward, because as I said, this particular issue, dialogue in general, affects people both in Kosovo and Serbia. But this issue of missing persons has a very, very strong human aspect and should be brought forward as soon as possible”, Stano said at the media conference.