Petkovic: First meeting of the joint commission on missing persons held; talks with Sorensen on the urgency of establishing the CSM

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, stated this evening that the first meeting of the Joint Commission of Belgrade and Pristina for the implementation of the Declaration on Missing Persons was finally held in Brussels, adding that Belgrade had been fighting for years for this meeting to take place. Petkovic also said that he discussed with Peter Sorensen the urgency of establishing the Community of Serb Municipalities.

Speaking to journalists in Brussels after the meeting of the Commission, Petkovic said that its convening was of exceptional importance and expressed hope that, following this first meeting, efforts to locate all missing persons would be accelerated.

He specified that the Joint Commission meeting held this evening took place at the level of chief negotiators, at the technical level.

“I must say that Belgrade has been fighting for years to reach precisely this first meeting. For every comma, for every letter of the numerous agreements concerning missing persons, we have all these years—speaking on behalf of the entire team—fought together. I hope that we are now giving additional hope to all families who are still waiting to learn the truth about the fate of their loved ones,” Petkovic emphasized.

As he added, for Belgrade the issue of missing persons has never been a political matter, but a purely humanitarian one, and it has been approached as such.

“We were ready in December to come here to Brussels and hold that first meeting; however, Pristina refused at the time due to elections in Kosovo and Metohija. What is particularly important is that the Joint Commission, as envisaged by the Declaration on Missing Persons previously adopted at the high level, serves as a kind of political body providing support to the Working Group, while the Working Group itself—operating under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross and existing for years—remains the main body when it comes to locating missing persons,” the Director of the Office explained.

According to him, this demonstrates that Belgrade is absolutely insistent on this issue as well.

“We will now do everything necessary and, through this mechanism, provide additional assistance both to the families and to the Working Group in order to reach the full truth as soon as possible—on the one hand, to determine the fate of all missing persons, a total of 1,589, of whom 567 are of Serbian nationality,” Petkovic said.

He also stated that he held a separate tête-à-tête meeting with Peter Sorensen, during which, as he said, they discussed the situation in Kosovo and Metohija.

“I particularly insisted on the formation of the Community of Serb Municipalities and on the fact that it must be established urgently, so that we can begin discussions on the Statute as soon as possible. I also spoke about the difficult position of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija, especially amid new threats and escalatory unilateral moves coming from Kurti and the regime in Pristina. If Albin Kurti continues with such an anti-Serb policy—one that tramples on dialogue and strips the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija of their rights—I fear that the very survival of the Serbian people in Kosovo and Metohija will be fully jeopardized, as will peace and security across the entire Western Balkans,” Petkovic stressed.

He underlined that Belgrade remains committed to a compromise-based and peaceful solution.

“Even during the meeting of the extraordinary European Council, many Member States inquired about what is happening in the dialogue. Therefore, it is good for Serbia, good for the process itself, and—ultimately—for the idea of reconciliation that we continue along this path. Thanks to the tremendous efforts of Belgrade and our Commission team on missing persons, we managed this evening to reach this first meeting and thereby continue with all other meetings, which, I hope, will very soon—within about ten days—resume at the level of other members participating in the work of the Joint Commission,” Petkovic concluded.