Nikolic on the harvesters' murders: No family deserves to spend nearly three decades living between grief and injustice

The Chair of the Serbian Parliament's Committee on Kosovo and Metohija, Danijela Nikolic, stated that the 27th anniversary of the crime in Staro Gracko marks not only one of the most brutal massacres of Serbian civilians in Kosovo, but also 27 years of shame for the international community, which, she said, has still failed—or has been unwilling—to bring to justice those responsible for the murder of fourteen Serbian harvesters.

Nikolic recalled that on July 23, 1999, just a few weeks after the arrival of international forces tasked with guaranteeing peace and security in Kosovo, fourteen Serbian farmers were killed in their fields while harvesting the fruits of their own labor.

She stressed that their only "crime" was that they were Serbs who had remained in their ancestral homes.

"No family deserves to spend nearly three decades living between grief and injustice. No nation should be expected to accept that crimes committed against its civilians are relativized, ignored, or swept under the carpet for the sake of political expediency," Nikolic said in a written statement ahead of the anniversary of the killing of the Serbian harvesters.

She emphasized that the crime in Staro Gracko is not merely an unsolved case, but a symbol of selective justice and a failure of all those international institutions that were entrusted with protecting the life, freedom, and dignity of every individual in Kosovo.

"When, even after 27 years, no one has been held accountable for the murder of 14 unarmed civilians, it is clear that it is not only the investigation that has failed—the international justice system has failed as well," Nikolic stated.

She called on the international missions operating in Kosovo to abandon what she described as a policy of silence and turning a blind eye to Serbian victims.

"Their responsibility does not diminish with the passage of time. On the contrary, every day without justice only increases it," Nikolic stressed.

At the same time, she said she expects the institutions in Pristina to demonstrate their willingness to prosecute crimes regardless of the victims' ethnicity.

"Without that, every discussion of the rule of law and a multiethnic society remains an empty political slogan. For Serbia, the lives of our compatriots are worth no less than the lives of anyone else. That is why we will never accept that Serbian victims be forgotten or treated as less important," Nikolic said.

She concluded by saying that Serbia will not forget Staro Gracko and will not abandon the pursuit of truth, however uncomfortable it may be for some.

"May the memory of the fourteen Serbian harvesters from Staro Gracko be eternal. Their innocent blood obliges us to persevere in the struggle for truth and justice, to preserve the memory of their sacrifice, and never to abandon our demand that those responsible be brought to justice. For a nation that forgets its martyrs risks seeing history repeat itself," Nikolic concluded.