Petkovic: Pristina is politicizing the issue of missing persons and using it to target the Serbian people

The Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Petar Petkovic, stated that in recent days Pristina has shamelessly politicized the issue of missing persons and stigmatized an entire municipality whose residents it is arresting and intimidating, while the Kosovo authorities themselves have for years obstructed the work of the Working Group on Missing Persons and failed to act on Belgrade's requests to search eight locations in Kosovo for which there is evidence that they contain the remains of Serbs who went missing during the 1999 conflict.

“In recent days, Pristina has shamelessly politicized the issue of missing persons, leveling brutal accusations against Belgrade while stigmatizing the entire municipality of Zubin Potok and unjustifiably arresting, intimidating, threatening, detaining, and harassing its residents, depriving them of their fundamental human rights, including the right to legal representation and a fair trial,” Petkovic said in a statement.

He stressed that the facts are entirely different and that Belgrade has for years consistently insisted on clarifying the fate of missing persons in order to provide their families with the answers they have waited far too long for and, at least to some extent, ease their suffering.

He recalled that Belgrade, without setting any conditions, accepted the Declaration on Missing Persons and constructively approached resolving all outstanding issues in order to enable the establishment of the Joint Commission on Missing Persons and, through its work and the work of the Working Group on Missing Persons, jointly contribute to resolving the remaining 1,579 unresolved cases.

“It was Pristina that obstructed the process of agreeing on the text of the Declaration by politicizing the issue, and for years it has obstructed the work of the Working Group on Missing Persons, chaired by the International Committee of the Red Cross, even though more than 1,900 missing persons cases have been resolved through this mechanism to date. For years, Pristina has failed to act on Belgrade's requests to search eight locations in Kosovo and Metohija for which there is well-founded information and evidence that they contain the remains of Serbs who went missing during the 1999 conflict,” Petkovic pointed out.

He specified that, according to the Commission on Missing Persons, 562 Serbs and other non-Albanians are still listed as missing, adding that their families deserve the truth, the rule of law, and justice so that, after 27 years, they may finally learn the fate of their loved ones.

Petkovic also pointed out that Belgrade has acted on all of Pristina's requests to search potential locations for missing persons in central Serbia in a transparent manner, noting that searches at locations in central Serbia are always attended by representatives of the competent Serbian authorities, the Red Cross, Pristina, the families of the missing, as well as EULEX, whereas, he added, this is not the case with the authorities in Pristina.

“That is why the campaign that has been waged in Pristina in recent days regarding missing persons is inhumane and disgraceful. Kurti and Svecla are using the fate of the missing as yet another tool for political attacks against the Serbian people, attacks on Belgrade, and the politicization and manipulation of this important issue,” Petkovic concluded.