On the occasion of the International Day of Missing Persons, gatherings would be organized in Gracanica and Pristina today.
As it was announced, gathering in Gracanica would start at 11.00, while in Pristina this day would be marked by laying flowers at the monument dedicated to the missing persons nearby the Kosovo Assembly.
Milorad Trifunovic, Coordinator of the Association of Families of the Missing Persons said to RTS that the situation related to resolving the issue of missing persons is catastrophic, because for the last nine months only one case was resolved, and for more than a year and a half three cases only.
“We are facing an unbreakable wall. Our efforts are great, we all agree, not only Serbs but Albanians too. Three months ago we have opened a joint multi-ethnic office, where our requests are identical,” Trifunovic said.
“We have information from the Belgrade Missing Persons Commission that they gave everything to the responsible institutions. However, we do not have information that anyone from the UN or the NATO gave their data and archives. There are no data from KLA archives either. There lays the problem of our missing persons,” Trifunovic said.
Meanwhile, the Chief of EULEX, Alexandra Papadopoulou said that the issue of the missing persons affects many families in Kosovo and continues to be the main EULEX priority.
“I would like to offer support to the families, which are still waiting to find out what happened to their loved ones. This issue affects many families here in Kosovo and the region and continues to be the main priority. Although the nature of the identification process is sensitive, complex and long, it is of vital importance to continue it in order to find answers about the destiny of the missing persons,” Papadopoulou said in a press statement.
Serbian Government Office for Kosovo Director, Marko Djuric, said that the conflict in Kosovo was specific because a high number of people vanished before the eyes of the international community, who came there to prevent bloodshed, but did not know or did now want to stop the bloody revels for days and weeks after their arrival.
Djuric further said, that he does not want to divide victims into Serbian and Albanian, as if anything connects two peoples in Kosovo, then it is an inconsolable pain for the loss of so many lives, and that pain would not be healed by silence, hatred or dreams about revenge.
Djuric also added that 5.800 went missing during the conflict in Kosovo, while 1658 persons are still uncounted for.
