EU mediated commission on missing persons begins work

The joint commission on forcibly disappeared persons during the last war in Kosovo will hold its first meeting in Brussels on January 15. Families have no expectations of results from this meeting, as they claim Serbia continues to neglect the process of uncovering the fate of the missing persons, CE Report quotes Kosova Press.

Ahmet Grajqevci, from the Coordinating Council of Families of Missing Persons, stated that this humanitarian issue should not be linked to political matters.

"This meeting, like previous ones, is just another with a different name, labeled as a meeting expected to yield results. But we, as families, do not expect any results from this meeting because we are dealing with a state that continuously neglects the process of addressing the issue of missing persons," Grajqevci said.

In December of last year, Kosovo and Serbia agreed to fully implement the Joint Declaration on Forcibly Disappeared Persons.

In Brussels, an agreement was reached to establish a Joint Commission to oversee the implementation of this declaration.
The Joint Commission will be chaired by the European Union and overseen by the International Committee of the Red Cross.
In Kosovo, concerns have been raised that obstacles from Serbia could delay the process once again.

Grajqevci insists that the international community should apply more pressure on Serbia to resolve the fate of missing persons in Kosovo.

He emphasizes the importance of opening Serbian archives.

On Monday, the EU envoy for the Kosovo-Serbia dialogue, Miroslav Lajčák, said this week's focus in Brussels will be on the first meeting of the Joint Commission on Missing Persons.
Meanwhile, the head of the Government Commission on Missing Persons, Andin Hoti, confirmed that Halil Cenaj has been appointed as the representative of Kosovo's delegation.

In 2023, Kosovo and Serbia reached an agreement on the Joint Declaration on Missing Persons as part of the EU-mediated dialogue for the normalization of relations.
The commitments in this declaration include access to reliable information, including those with a qualified status, and the availability of all relevant documents to determine the fate of the missing persons.

Over 13,000 civilians were killed during the 1998/99 war by Serbian forces, and of more than 6,000 forcibly disappeared individuals, 1,600 remain missing.