27 April 2018
On the day Kosovo marks the National Day of Missing Persons, EULEX would like to commemorate those who have gone missing and the plight of their loved ones, this year with a special focus on young women and men who still do not have answers to the fate of their missing parents. EULEX remains committed to this important journey to shed light on the whereabouts of missing persons in Kosovo.
“It is a heartrending reality to not know the whereabouts of a loved one. In its firm commitment to help solve the issue of the missing, EULEX is calling upon Kosovo Albanian and Serb communities to come forward by providing blood samples for DNA analysis in order to facilitate this important process”, said EULEX Head of Mission Alexandra Papadopoulou.
To this day, approximately 1650 persons remain unaccounted for, and it is vital that the work on finding answers to their fate continues relentlessly. This can only be achieved with the cooperation of all relevant stakeholders and a high level of expertise. It must remain a top priority for the Kosovo authorities – especially at a time when they prepare to take over from EULEX critical rule of law functions, including in the area of the Institute of Forensic Medicine.
“Families need closure to their painful past and the tragic loss that they have suffered. It is the only way to start moving on”, said Ms Papadopoulou.
Since 2008, EULEX has conducted 594 field operations in order to identify and re-associate human remains. 506 victims have been returned to their families.
