Popovic: Pristina obstructs and politicizes the Issue of the Missing

The Acting Assistant Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Igor Popovic, stated today that Pristina is obstructing and politicizing the issue of the missing.

At a press conference organized by the Association of Kidnapped and Missing Persons in Kosovo, Popovic emphasized that the issue of the missing has been current for more than 25 years.

"The NATO intervention is becoming history, but the fates of the missing in Kosovo and Metohija still haunt us. Some have been found and buried, while others remain unknown. Unfortunately, this is still a current issue, one that causes pain and haunts their loved ones. The process of finding the missing will continue, and active efforts are being made to locate the missing. This is a humanitarian issue, a question for our society aimed at healing wounds," said Popovic.

He added that the Republic of Serbia is doing important things, and this issue is part of the EU negotiation process.

"We are not satisfied with Pristina's obstruction and politicization of this issue. It hampers the work of the working groups dealing with these issues. There are many unexplored locations, we are not satisfied with the participation of EULEX, they can contribute more. There is also the issue of organ trafficking, the Yellow House issue. We must not let this issue be forgotten. We hope that the law that is being prepared, which will address the issue of disappearance and support for families, will resolve many things," Popovic noted.

Verica Tomanovic, President of the Association of Kidnapped and Missing Persons in Kosovo and Metohija, emphasized that the Association's work in 2024 was focused on drawing attention to the unresolved problem of the missing.

"All the victims trusted the international mission. How do you explain to a mother where her 17-year-old son has been for a quarter of a century? Families have a right to the truth and insist on evidence. Kosovo and Metohija are steeped in suffering and blood," said Tomanovic.

She added that UNMIK and EULEX did not fulfill their mandate.

"The latest agreement between Belgrade and Pristina gives hope that the problem will begin to be resolved," Tomanovic concluded.

Ljiljana Krstic, Head of the Department for Missing Persons of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, reminded that last year in May, a Declaration on the Missing was agreed between President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti.

"We reached an agreement on December 17th in Brussels to implement the Declaration. It is necessary to form a Joint Commission before that, we have been working on the text of the working tasks for a year and a half, and we managed to harmonize it. I sincerely hope that we will continue where we left off, which implies that Pristina will work on exhumations and identification of the remains of persons of Serbian nationality. Pristina insisted that every contentious issue be resolved at the EU level in Brussels, but we have harmonized that. A representative of UNMIK is also part of the Pristina delegation. The working group was also established under the auspices of the UN," said Krstic.

She added that the Working Group must operate in the interest of the families, given that there are more than 1,600 missing persons just in Kosovo.

"I sincerely hope that the Declaration will not be a dead letter on paper. We depend on Pristina. Their prosecutors must issue orders for some locations to be exhumed. This year we only searched two locations in Kosovo - Kosare, where we did not find three soldiers we were looking for, and Repa, where we found nothing. We had five identifications this year. Important conclusions have been drawn, and I hope they will be implemented. We have provided archives to Pristina, handed over more than 2,000 documents, based on which 18 people of Albanian nationality were identified," Krstic emphasized.

She stated that work is being done on a Law on Missing Persons through which the families of the missing will be satisfied, and it is expected to enter parliamentary procedure in the spring.

Public Prosecutor's Assistant of the Public Prosecutor's Office for War Crimes Milos Grahovac said that the prosecution had a successful collaboration with the families of the missing.

"This process is very difficult and complex for you who are searching. I call on the media to convey the voice of the missing and I call on everyone to report any information they have. The first criminal complaints were filed back in 2007. We do not have cooperation with the temporary authorities in Kosovo and Metohija, you know the situation. Our prosecutor's office cooperates with the Office for Missing Persons of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, we have a signed cooperation agreement. Intensive work is being done. For us, all victims are the same," said Grahovac.