Hundreds of Kosovo Albanians gathered in the village of Racak on Wednesday to mark the 21th anniversary of the massacre of 45 Albanian civilians by Serb police and military, which promoted NATO’s intervention in the 1998-99 war in Kosovo.
Serbia still denies its role in the massacre with the Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic stating that the massacre was fabricated triggering reaction of Kosovo and international representatives. Ambassadors of the Quint – United States, United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy issued a joint statement on Tuesday saying that twenty-one years ago, the massacre that occurred in Recak eventually prompted NATO allies to intervene and end a humanitarian catastrophe. Kosovo’s Foreign Ministry called on international community to put pressure on Serbia and bring before justice all those who killed and massacred 45 Albanian innocent civilians. Outgoing minister of Foreign Affairs, Behgjet Pacolli, said reconciliation between Kosovo and Serbia possible only when justice is served for all crimes against humanity committed during war in Kosovo.
Vetevendosje leader and candidate for prime minister, Albin Kurti, paying homages at the Recak memorial on Wednesday, said that Kosovo institutions are obliged that those responsible for this massacre be brought to justice. He said that justice delayed is justice denied. “The news on Recak Massacre has shocked and terrified Kosovo but alarmed democratic world and international diplomacy. The Recak Massacre was crucial prompting NATO’s air campaign against Slobodan Milosevic’s Yugoslavia. 21 years later no justice has been delivered to victims and their family members,” Kurti said.
Chairman of the Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK), Isa Mustafa, said the Recak Massacre triggered reaction of international community against century-long injustice of Serbia against people of Kosovo. He said that the Recak victims represent the seal of liberation and state-building of Kosovo.
Chairman of the Democratic Party of Kosovo (PDK), Kadri Veseli, commemorating the Recak Massacre said that citizens of Kosovo are hurt this year seeing the European Union tolerating Serbia deny the massacre and take historic responsibility over “macabre crimes” committed in Kosovo. “Today, the EU acts indifferent towards Serbia’s efforts to revise history, by denying responsibility over crimes committed against our citizens. There are European officials who think Kosovo should accept in silence impunity and not bringing before justice those responsible of committing crimes against Albanians in 1998-1999, as a price for freedom. But, they are making mistake, because crimes against humanity never get old and peace cannot be built upon injustice,” Veseli wrote in Facebook. He also said that establishment of an international tribunal on Serbia’s crimes against Albanians is “inevitable and necessary” as a precondition to have a lasting peace in Balkans. /GazetaExpress/
