Office for Kosovo and Metohija: The abduction of Belacevac mine workers was a prelude to the tragedy that befell the Serbian People

On this day in 1998, nine workers from the Belacevac surface mine were abducted, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija recalled, stressing that this event marked the beginning of the tragedy that would strike the Serbian people in the years to come.

“Terrorists abducted nine workers from the Belacevac surface mine in Kosovo and Metohija on this day in 1998. Their fate has never been clarified, nor have those responsible for the first mass abduction of Serbs on the eve of the armed conflict in our southern province been brought to justice,” the Office said in a statement.

It added that this abduction was a prelude to the atrocities that would follow and a forewarning of the insidious and criminal methods that separatists would go on to use to terrorize the Serbian population.

“Unfortunately, even today, we are witnessing a policy of impunity for crimes against Serbs prevailing in Pristina, as evidenced by numerous cases where our people have been victims of Albin Kurti’s regime of terror,” the statement continued.

The Office noted that, year after year, it has been calling on the international presence in Kosovo to pressure Pristina to shed light on the miners’ abduction, as well as many other crimes against Serbs, in order to offer some measure of solace to the families of the abducted and murdered and to create the preconditions for building a normal society—one in which criminals are not celebrated as heroes.

“Serbs remember their abducted and murdered loved ones, and no force will make them forget. Therefore, no one should expect true interethnic reconciliation and trust in Kosovo and Metohija to be possible if there is insistence on forcibly closing the darkest chapters of history and covering up crimes,” the Office emphasized.

They also cited that over 560 Serbs are still registered as missing in Kosovo, and that a genuine transition from a post-conflict to a peaceful society cannot happen without uncovering the truth about their fate.

The Office for Kosovo and Metohija, along with other Serbian institutions, will continue to insist firmly and unwaveringly on this issue, the statement concluded.

On this day 27 years ago, nine workers from the Belacevac mine at the “Obilic” thermal power plant went missing, along with one individual who was due to begin work that day.

The workers abducted on their way to their workplace were:
Dusan, Pera, and Zoran Adjancic, Mirko Buha, Dragan Vukmirovic, Filip Gojkovic, Miroslav Trifunovic, Srboljub Savic, Zarko Spasic, and Božidar Lempic.

In total, 57 Serbian employees of Elektroprivreda Srbije (EPS) were killed, and 27 were abducted in Kosovo.