Lina Veka: Kosovo is still a black hole in the heart of Europe, and it seems no one cares anymore

Italian journalist and researcher Maria Lina Veka, in an interview for Kosovo Online, stated that 26 years after the NATO bombing, Kosovo remains a "black hole in the heart of Europe," but that no one seems to care anymore. The author of several books on kidnapped and missing Serbs, Lina Veka recalls what she saw and experienced just a week after March 17, 2004.

"As an Italian general once told me years ago in Bosnia, the worst has been done, but it was never finished. So, the war in Kosovo was never truly over. The war against Yugoslavia was never truly over, and the Kosovo problem remains in the center of Europe. But at this moment, no one is interested in solving this issue. I don’t think either America or Russia is currently interested in this problem, which is why it remains 'in the shadows,'" said Lina Veka.

She highlights the status of minority communities and the level of crime as key unresolved issues in Kosovo.

"It is about the issue of minority communities who cannot live in Kosovo and the problem of crime and the illegality of the state. The Republic of Kosovo does not exist. It is a black hole in the center of Europe. And perhaps now, it is even worse. Because they never finished the job, and all the key issues remain. At some point, maybe America, Russia, or Europe will take an interest in solving this problem. I don’t know," said the Italian journalist.

She believes that the situation in Kosovo, 26 years after the NATO intervention, is worse than it was at the time.

"Nothing has changed. Nothing has improved. Perhaps everything has actually gotten even worse because people cannot live in Kosovo. Neither Albanians nor Serbs can live in this country. There is no state, no organization, no legal institutions. There is no economic or strategic approach. Twenty-six years have passed, and nothing has changed," Lina Veka emphasized.

She claims that this is the result of the fact that there was no war in 1999 but rather a unilateral aggression led by the armed forces of the EU and the U.S.

"They participated together in this completely criminal aggression against Yugoslavia, and that is why the problem still exists," Veka stated.

This Italian journalist was one of the few foreign reporters who visited Kosovo after March 17, 2004.

"During those days, I was supposed to go to Djakovica with the Carabinieri from Rome, but the trip was canceled because riots had broken out. I was in Kosovo shortly after the March Pogrom, perhaps a week later. Everything started with a protest claiming that Serbs might have killed some children in the Ibar River between North and South Mitrovica, but that was fake news. Nevertheless, it created the conditions for the massive destruction of Serbian churches and monasteries, houses, institutions, schools—everything," Lina Veka recalled.

She emphasizes that the greatest tragedy is that 21 years later, nothing has changed.

"Nothing has changed. Serbs are not returning to Kosovo; it is impossible. Serbs in Kosovo have no freedom of movement. Kosovo remains an illegal republic, where one of its presidents, Hashim Thaçi, is a war criminal. You have a criminal leading the country. At the same time, churches have not been restored, and what is even more important is that the culture and traditions of the Serbian community have been destroyed. Nothing has changed to this day—only gotten worse," concluded Lina Veka.