Odalovic: Hoti's statements about the lawsuit against Serbia irresponsible; the issue of the missing should be resolved

Regarding the message from Pristina that, when Kosovo becomes a full member of the Council of Europe, it will sue Serbia for allegedly not providing information about the missing persons, the President of the Commission for Missing Persons, Veljko Odalovic, stated today that such statements were at the very least irresponsible and that the issue of the missing could be resolved if both sides adhered to the agreed mechanisms and obligations.

Odalovic emphasizes that, as far as Serbia is concerned, the door for discussing missing persons is open.

"I don't quite understand Mr. Hoti's announcements; I believe that the mandate we have, both he and I, provides enough space through existing mechanisms to work and solve these problems," Odalovic said for Kosovo Online.

He reminded that a Working Group was formed to resolve cases of missing persons under the mandate of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, chaired by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

He also adds that regarding the missing persons, meetings are held within the framework of the dialogue in Brussels, where Serbia is fully active. He assessed that there were sufficient mechanisms through which the issue of missing persons could be resolved, emphasizing that he does not understand what Kosovo's membership in international institutions would contribute to that issue.

"I don't know what more can be done with anything else, especially with this adventure of the international community and Pristina to make Kosovo part of some international institutions at all costs and without any criteria or basis. The problem is not with Pristina, but with those who accept it. Someone else should be concerned about whether Pristina can become a member and whether it meets the requirements, when those who should be concerned about it, are not. When the law is violated, 'not right', then it cannot have any serious consequences, nor does it have anything far-reaching that could jeopardize Serbia's interests," Odalovic stated.

He emphasized that he believed in solving the problem through dialogue and that Hoti should talk to the Serbian delegation about locations, archives, frameworks, fulfilled and unfulfilled obligations on both sides. According to him, it is necessary for the parties to return to what they discussed a year ago in Brussels and hold only one meeting of the Working Group to start addressing the issue of the missing.

"We need to make a plan of activities in the field, to verify the information and locations we have exchanged. Pristina has had 11 requests for Batajnica, Petrovo Selo, Perucac, Surdulica, Kozarevo, Jaloviste, Pazarska Banja, and all the locations they mention as potential sites, we are ready to verify. We need to verify that so that the competent authorities have the opportunity to verify it and issue certain orders for their treatment. We expect the same from the other side, to verify together places like Budisavci, Lapusnik, and Likovac, and all those places that we have highlighted as requests. Let's see what is with the 300 bodies in the mortuary in Pristina, let's see whose bodies those are, and together - that's our mandate and framework of operation," Odalovic explained.

There is no reason, he concludes, to talk, assume, or ask for anything outside of that framework since the implied obligations are still not fulfilled.

"We have found international archives that are very important, and now we need to think about who will sue whom, and for what? Competent authorities are dealing with this, and we have no problem, supporting every investigation conducted for established war crimes, and especially, we are particularly interested in investigations into war crimes involving those who have disappeared and whom we are searching for, both in Pristina and Belgrade. That's what I appreciate as the path, while all this other talk is empty without action and an activity that could bring hope back to both Albanian and Serbian families," Odalovic emphasized.

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He says he believed that teams would be in the locations with the arrival of good weather and would inform families about the work plan and all the information. However, he notices that Pristina is "burying its head in the sand" and not mentioning existing agreements, so, as he adds, "talking about big issues" and lawsuits is irresponsible.

"I would like us to simply return to our mandates, not spend too much time on these other topics, and show responsibility to the institutions that have appointed us and, above all, to the families of the missing. We do not have cooperation with them (Pristina); we do not know if they have identified anyone whom they have identified, and we have a jointly consolidated list," he pointed out.

Serbia's doors, he asserts, are open for cooperation and dialogue.

"As far as Serbia is concerned, they are knocking on open doors. We are ready to work according to the rules we have agreed upon, which are guaranteed by international institutions. We not only respect all decisions but we are a part of that process; we have even entered into a regional project where Pristina was treated as a legal institution - the Western Balkans Summit, where all countries in the region have a responsibility to cooperate in certain areas," he said.

Commenting on the green light given by the Political Committee of the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) for Kosovo's membership in the Council of Europe and the promise that there will be bodies to monitor the situation on the ground and guarantee peace and the protection of the rights of the Serbs, Odalovic emphasized that he no longer believed in the messages of the international community and those who sent such messages.

"So far, they have had all the mechanisms, and the Serbs are in increasingly difficult situations daily, and there are fewer of them. The institutional terror happening in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija by Albin Kurti and his institutions is something that there are already mechanisms to prevent. There is EULEX, KFOR, and UN, and many would, in a rebranded manner, if by some miracle Kosovo became a member of the Council of Europe, say, 'Now we will deal with this.' Why don't you deal with it today? Why don't you protect the rights of the Serbs today?" Odalovic explained.

The violence of Pristina, he recalls, began with the incursion of special forces with "long guns" into northern Kosovo, through the destruction of institutions to illegitimate elections, which, he notes, were a "complete farce."

He points out that Kurti is now, by calling for the vote to dismiss mayors, doing everything to ensure that this process does not end as the Serbian community expects.

He adds that the situation with the dinar is a "special story," and that arrests, indictments, and various actions that violate the rights of the Serbs in Kosovo are still ongoing.

"All of this is what the international community has failed on; it has exhausted its credit because it could have prevented all of this. It did not prevent anything with a single action or deed. They said everything Kurti did was legal. Even the elections where 1,567 voters elected four mayors in municipalities with 45,950 registered voters, were considered legal by them," Odalovic said.

He notes that everything would be fine if the international community did its job and cared about the rights of the Serbs, not tolerating the terror perpetrated by Kurti.

"So their expectations or announcements that they will create new mechanisms and control the situation... no thanks. We have seen what their control looks like, we have seen what Resolution 1244 looks like, and what Pristina, Pec, Prizren, Urosevac, Mitrovica, and Gnjilane look like... What it looks like when 50,000 well-armed peacekeepers come to prevent violence and ensure peace. And then in their presence, 250,000 people are expelled. We are still searching today for 420 people, the Serbs and other non-Albanians, who disappeared after June 10, 1999. Does that mean that by this logic, we should sue them because they are responsible for allowing civilians to be killed, expelled, and kidnapped," Odalovic said.

He pointed out that lawsuits and disputes were not the path to a solution but that all parties should work together if they wanted to build a common future.

"If they want to build a future in Kosovo without Serbs, they are embarking on a dangerous adventure," Odalovic warned.

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