Serbia and Kosovo Reach Agreement on Missing Persons from Conflict in 1999

Serbia effectively lost control of predominantly Albanian Kosovo in 1999 following NATO’s military intervention in the Kosovo conflict. More than 13,000 people, mostly Albanians, were killed in the Kosovo War. The war ended when Serbian forces were withdrawn from Kosovo after an 11-week NATO bombing campaign.

In 2008, Pristina unilaterally declared independence from Serbia, however, Belgrade still considers the former province as part of its territory.

The information available to the European Union (EU) shows that 1,621 people have still not been found after the Kosovo conflict.

The agreement on the missing persons was reached at the talks in Brussels on Tuesday.

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti have pledged to use satellite data and other modern technologies to locate the mass graves.

The two countries will also share official documents and establish a joint commission to look for missing persons.

Kosovo and Serbia are conducting negotiations through the EU, in which they have verbally promised to normalize relations, but no agreement has yet been signed. The mediator in Tuesday’s talks was the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Žuseps Borel.

CONTEXT:

Serbia lost control of predominantly Albanian Kosovo in 1999 following NATO’s military intervention in the Kosovo conflict, but in 2008 Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia.

Serbia still considers Kosovo part of its territory. Belgrade’s position is supported by its ally Russia.

Kosovo’s independence has been recognized by 22 of the 27 European Union member states, including Latvia. Spain, Greece, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia have not done so.

A NATO-led peacekeeping operation is operating in Kosovo, in which Latvian soldiers are also participating.

Report a bug