Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti said on Saturday that excavations at a site where human remains believed to belong to people missing from the 1998–99 Kosovo war have been discovered could continue for months due to the difficult terrain and the scattered nature of the remains.
Speaking to reporters during a visit to the excavation site in the village of Kalludër e Vogël, near Zubin Potok, Kurti called on the international community to pressure Serbia into opening its archives, arguing that doing so would help clarify the fate of around 1,600 people who remain missing.
Excavations at the site began earlier this week following a two-year investigation and the arrest of two suspects by Kosovo authorities.
Kosovo Police later said they had found evidence indicating that one of the suspects arrested in Zubin Potok had been an active member of the former Yugoslav Army.
Authorities confirmed days ago that the remains discovered at the site are of human origin.
“The excavations will continue for many weeks, perhaps even many months, because the bones are scattered and were found near a stream that likely becomes very strong during the spring. Even if the bodies were originally buried in the same place, they may no longer be there,” Kurti said while inspecting the site.
Kurti accused Serbia of refusing to cooperate and of targeting individuals who have provided information about the possible locations of mass graves.
“We are all witnessing Serbia arresting Serbs who, more than two decades ago, informed UNMIK and international organizations about Serbia’s crimes. They are now being accused of espionage,” he said.
He added that instead of opening the archives of its police, military, and paramilitary forces involved in the Kosovo war, Serbia is accusing and arresting anyone who provides information, effectively punishing them on espionage charges.
Although the issue of missing persons is primarily considered a humanitarian matter, Serbia has not granted full access to wartime institutional records despite previous commitments to cooperate and exchange information.
Kurti was referring to the arrest of a 46-year-old man identified by the initials R.T. in Kraljevo, central Serbia.
Serbian news agency Tanjug reported that the man was detained on suspicion of espionage and released footage of his arrest.
However, Serbia’s Interior Ministry, the Security Information Agency, and the Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Kraljevo have neither officially confirmed the arrest nor responded to media inquiries.
According to media reports, R.T. is suspected of having cooperated for years with Kosovo’s intelligence service by collecting and providing information about former and current members of the Serbian Army, the Serbian Interior Ministry, and other state security institutions.
Kosovo’s acting Minister of Labour, Family, Social Protection and War Veterans’ Values, Andin Hoti, claimed that R.T., originally from Istog, was arrested in Serbia after helping identify the location of a suspected mass grave in Kosovo.
The Humanitarian Law Center Kosovo and the Humanitarian Law Center Serbia said the verification of information regarding the suspected mass grave in Zubin Potok had taken more than two decades.
According to the organizations, information about a possible mass grave in Kalludër e Vogël first became public on January 7, 2013, when the newspaper Zëri published R.T.’s account alleging that 23 Albanian civilians had been killed and buried in the valley near the village. R.T. had reportedly given testimony to UNMIK investigators and Kosovo Police on February 7, 2003.
Kurti reiterated that the human remains discovered in Zubin Potok may belong to a group of 23 Albanians who disappeared in the area in 1999.
The post Kurti Visits Zubin Potok Excavation Site, Says Dig May Last for Months and Urges Serbia to Open War Archives appeared first on Euronews Albania.
