Kosovo marks International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances

By Talha Ozturk

BELGRADE, Serbia (AA) - Kosovo marked the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on Wednesday as officials laid wreaths on a memorial plaque in the capital Pristina for more than 1,600 missing persons.

The Youth Initiative for Human Rights - Kosovo installed a black door, a table prepared for dinner and empty chairs representing the long wait for the issue of unresolved disappearances.

Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on social media that 1,617 forcibly disappeared persons during the Kosovo War are remembered.

''Their absence still weighs heavily as Serbia continues to deny responsibility and refuses to open archives and reveal mass grave locations,'' Kurti said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

An activist, Visar Kukaqi, said the door that was placed in the square symbolizes the pain, sadness and grief found in the homes of the families of missing members who still cannot find peace every day across Kosovo.

"We cannot think about the future, the development of Kosovo, democracy and peace, collective coexistence, and collective healing without fully confronting the past. Just like the waiting door, our past is also dark,'' said Kukaqi.

It is estimated that more than 1,600 people, mostly Albanian, lost their lives in the Kosovo War, but their bodies have still not been found.