German Embassy expects full cooperation from Serbia and Kosovo on missing persons

The German Embassy in Kosovo told Klan Kosova that it expected Serbia and Kosovo to cooperate fully in clarifying the fate of persons who went missing during the 1999 war and to provide access to relevant documentation.

The German Embassy's statement came after caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti called on the international community two days ago to exert pressure on Serbia to open the files of the Yugoslav Army's 37th Motorized Brigade.

"In 2023, Kosovo and Serbia, with the facilitation of the European Union, took an important step toward resolving cases of missing persons by adopting the Declaration on Missing Persons, on the basis of which the Joint Commission on Missing Persons was established. One of the Commission's tasks is to ensure access to all relevant domestic and international documentation. We have called on all sides to provide access to accurate and reliable information concerning missing persons and potential mass graves," the German Embassy said in a response to Klan Kosova.

Among other things, the German Embassy said that it expected Serbia to cooperate with its Kosovo counterparts in accordance with the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance.

Earlier, the US Embassy in Pristina, also responding to an inquiry from Klan Kosova, said that it supported efforts to investigate war crimes and ensure justice for the families of war victims.

Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija Petar Petkovic, reacting to Kurti's August 24 statement, said that the caretaker Kosovo Prime Minister was continuing an inhumane campaign to politicize the issue of missing persons and that Pristina had for years refused Belgrade's requests to search eight locations in Kosovo.

President of the Serbian Government Commission on Missing Persons Veljko Odalovic said that Albin Kurti's appeal for the international community to pressure Serbia into opening its archives was unfounded, given that Serbian delegations had not been present at sites investigated by Pristina for seven years, were not invited to searches, and Pristina did not act on their requests. According to Odalovic, this demonstrated that Serbian victims were not a priority for Pristina and that it had no interest in them at all.