Blakaj: Priority should be to treat the issue of missing persons as humanitarian, not political

Following the first meeting of the Joint Commission of Belgrade and Pristina in Brussels for the implementation of the Declaration on Missing Persons, Bekim Blakaj, Director of the Humanitarian Law Center, assessed that the priority should be to view the issue of missing persons as a humanitarian, rather than a political, matter.

Blakaj noted that he does not have particularly high expectations following the meeting in Brussels, recalling that two and a half years elapsed before the Joint Commission was established, but added that he nevertheless hopes certain points will be implemented.

“This should have been done immediately. On the other hand, perhaps some points of the joint statement by (Aleksandar) Vucic and (Albin) Kurti will be implemented, such as a faster response when there is information about certain locations, so that work can be carried out on the ground. There could also be a higher degree of involvement of families of the missing in the work of the Joint Working Group. However, I am skeptical, especially when it comes to opening possible archives that contain information on the locations of graves, whether mass or individual. I do not see that we will witness tangible results in this regard any time soon,” he said.

He emphasized that there had been disappointments in the past as well, even after agreements had been reached.

“One of the elements included in the joint Declaration is that the parties will treat the issue of missing persons as humanitarian rather than political, whereas in practice we have consistently seen that it has been used as a political bargaining chip,” he stated.

Blakaj reiterated that the priority should be to treat the issue of missing persons as a humanitarian concern rather than a political one, as, according to him, has been the case so far.

“I believe it is logical that anything that could contribute to clarifying the fate of missing persons should be implemented. This is extremely important, and, of course, that the issue of missing persons should genuinely be treated as humanitarian rather than political—that should be the priority,” he concluded.