Accusations against Serbia were once again be heard in the Kosovo Assembly. Following yesterday’s debate on the return of Albanians to municipalities in the north – during which Kosovan MPs criticized and harshly accused the north, „the fate of 1,600 Albanian civilians abducted by Serbia“ was discussed in the Kosovan assembly today. „The Serb government is criminal“, „it is working to hide crimes and mass graves“, „it should take responsibility for the crimes“ – read the messages of representatives of the ruling Albanian parties and the largest opposition parties in Kosovo from today’s session, which was held at Nisma’s initiative. The Kosovan MPs proposed a solution – for Albania, as a member of the Council of Europe, to request an investigation into „Serbia’s cover-up of mass graves.“ The MPs also suggested sending a letter to international institutions in order to „force Serbia to shed light on the fate of 1,600 missing persons“.
Below we publish parts of the discussion on this topic.
LDK: Serb government is criminal
LDK MP Shkemb Manaj described the current government in Serbia as „criminal“, RTK reported.
He stated that official Belgrade „continues to hide Serb crimes and refuses to reveal the location of mass graves of Albanians killed during the war.“
„A government that hides crimes cannot be called anything other than a criminal government.“
Demaj: Serbia should take responsibility for crimes committed in Kosovo
Another MP from the same party, Frasher Demaj called on official Belgrade to open its military archives and „take responsibility for crimes committed in Kosovo“.
As the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic underlined on several occasions, Belgrade agreed in Brussels to open its war archives with the aim of finding mass graves, but only if Pristina does the same when it comes to the archives of the „KLA“. According to Vucic, however, Pristina refused to do so on several occasions.
Speaking about the issue of the missing persons, he said that the lack of evidence on committed crimes is a problem and an obstacle standing in the way of resolving this issue.
Demaj then urged MPs to support the current government so that the issue of the missing is finally resolved.
„On the other hand, Serbia must accept responsibility for the crimes committed, punish the perpetrators and apologize to the people of Kosovo for the violence, murder and massacre,“ the MP added.
Citing „professional institutions from Kosovo and Serbia“ as sources of the data he presented today, Demaj said that 529 mass graves have been identified, most of which are located in Kosovo, since March 2000.
„The bodies of approximately 4,300 people who were killed by the Serb army, police and paramilitary groups were found in these graves,“ he said.
Also, the rhetorical question on what should be done with Serbs who reveal the locations of mass graves of Albanians in Serbia which the current President of the Serbian Assembly, Ivica Dacic posed on the “Cirilica” talk-show on TV Happy back in October elicited sharp criticism in the Kosovo Assembly today.
The MP of the Self-Determination Movement, Liburn Aliu said due to Dacic’s statement, Kosovo should condition Serbia and reconsider its position regarding the continuation of talks in Brussels.
„President of the Assembly worked to hide crimes“
The chairman of the Social Democratic Initiative, Fatmir Limaj said that the current president of the Serbian Assembly threatened and worked to hide crimes in Kosovo.
According to Limaj, today’s debate should serve to raise awareness among international partners so that they can „once again see to what kind of country they have talked to so far.“
„Remember, Serbian justice goes with the record, with the investigating judges, with the prosecutors, they keep the record, hiding the crime of dozens of people killed on the Danube, pretending to be Kurdish refugees who were trying to escape to Romania,“ he added.
He urged the MPs to send a letter to the European Parliament, the European Union and powerful countries, and request that Serbia sheds light on the fate of the missing from Kosovo.
Shala: Serbia is obliged to shed light on the fate of the missing
Nisma MP Endrit Shala revealed that the statements by Serb officials do not come as a surprise to him. He stressed that Serbia is „obliged to shed light on the fate of the missing persons.“ Shala was the one who initiated the debate on today’s topic.
He accused the President of Serbia, who held the function of the Minister of Information at the time, and Ivica Dacic, an SPS spokesperson back then, that they were two „persons who worked the most on the strategy of hiding evidence of genocide against Albanians in Kosovo“.
Shala then proceeded to accuse Serbia of hiding war crimes ever since the war until today – with the exception of the time when Zoran Djindjic was prime minister. He also alleged that Serbia is now „continuing with the old policy“.
He called on MPs to ignore party differences and urge international institutions to „force Serbia to shed light on the fate of 1,600 Albanian civilians.“
Nisma MP revealed that he would present a letter, written in cooperation with parliamentary groups, which would be sent to international institutions.
PDK: Albania to request an investigation in the Council of Europe over the cover-up of mass graves
PDK MP Abelard Tahiri put forward a different idea than the one presented by his colleague Endrit Shala.
As a solution, he proposed that Albania, as a member of the Council of Europe, should request an investigation into „Serbia’s cover-up of mass graves.“
„Since we are not a member of this organization, we must take a concrete step through Albania in order to seriously deal with this issue as soon as possible. There is no reason why Albania should not take such an initiative in the Council of Europe,“ he added.
According to him, the Serb army and police are „responsible for the fate of over 1,600 Albanian civilians who are believed to be missing.“
„Milosevic’s associates did not do that, neither did his successors – Tadic, Nikolic and Vucic. So, since then, there have been seven prime ministers and three presidents in Serbia, and they all continue to hide those crimes,“ Tahiri said.
Kadrijaj: „Serbia committed crimes while the Tribunal is prosecuting the liberators“
AAK MP Time Kadrijaj said that Kosovo „paid dearly for the price of freedom with 15,000 murdered people, hundreds of massacres, 1,200 killed children and 20,000 raped women.“
„Despite all this, Kosovo agreed to a dialogue with the aim of normalizing good neighborly relations, wishing to move forward towards European integration, with the obligation that both sides will cooperate and not hinder each other’s membership in the international community,“ the MP said.
She alleged that the Serb side did not fulfill its obligations on good neighborly relations and that it failed to honor what was agreed in Brussels.
On the other hand, she added that European democracy and justice „cannot be seen,“ because Europe „supports the aggressor, not the victim, and it is putting pressure on Kosovo and the side that fought the liberation war“.
„Serbia committed crimes and the Tribunal was formed in Kosovo to prosecute the liberators and the country that fought the liberation war,“ she emphasized.
AAK MP Nasim Haradinaj also identified Belgrade as the culprit for the fact that more than 1,000 people are still considered missing.
Berisha: People from other communities are also missing, not just Albanians
Egyptian Liberal Party MP Veton Berisha criticized his colleagues, stressing that they neglected to mention that members of other communities are also missing, not only Albanians, RTK reported.
During the parliamentary debate on the topic of missing persons, Berisha underlined that light should be shed on the fate of everyone who is listed as a missing person, including Egyptians who are also among the missing, adding that „the responsibility lies with official Belgrade.“
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