It was said that it is urgent, but the issue of clarifying the fate of the missing persons, forcibly abducted by the Serbian police and army, is not being treated as such. Within 40 days of the adoption in Brussels of the Declaration on the Disappeared, a joint commission should have been formed, but such a thing has not happened even after three months, says the chairman of the Government Commission on Missing Persons in Kosovo, Andin Hoti. According to him, Serbia is delaying this process and the European Union should condition it.

Without shedding light on the fate of the missing persons, it makes no sense to continue talks with Serbia, Hoti emphasizes, while mentioning that it has been almost four months since the agreement in Brussels and no steps have been taken to implement the agreement.

He says that the second step after the approval of the declaration was the formation of the joint commission which would have two members of the European Union who would play the role of leaders, as well as two members from Kosovo, and two from Serbia, whereas the International Red Cross would be a supporter.

In an interview for KosovaPress, Hoti says that the EU has all the focus on the events related to the north of Kosovo.

The Declaration on Missing Persons was signed on May 2 of this year by the Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, and the President of Serbia, Aleksander Vucic, at the high-level political meeting in the framework of the dialogue between the two countries.

There, the parties have pledged that they will engage in clarifying the fate of the missing persons.

While Serbia is not cooperating in this regard, Hoti says that pressure is no longer enough, but the same (Serbia) should be conditioned on its path of integration.

He also shows that last month two meetings were planned between experts from Kosovo and those from Serbia, but they were canceled by the Serbian side.

Hoti says that talks with Serbia should depend on the issue of missing persons, especially now that it is a statement approved by both sides.

Despite Serbia’s refusal to reveal the location of the cemeteries, teams on the ground have continued digging, each time after receiving orders for marked locations.

Excavations were carried out this week in the territory of the municipality of Peja, but they were closed without finding any mortal remains.

However, the teams will continue to deal with the documents and in case any other location appears in that part, the excavations will continue.

The excavation in Peja was the ninth in a row, among which the excavation in Mitrovica, in the cemetery of Dragodan, as well as one in Matiqan, had resulted in finds.

The next excavation is expected to start by the beginning of next month in the municipality of Gjakova, precisely in the village of Bishtazhin.

While there are also some locations that have not yet been closed, such as the one in Podujevz or Kamenica, work on which is expected to start after the end of the excavation in the municipality of Gjakova.

More than 1,600 missing people are still missing, forcibly abducted by the Serbian police and army during the last war in Kosovo.