Gjakova/Meja, April 27, 2017 – The President of the country, Hashim Thaçi, participated today at the citizens gathering in Meja of Gjakova for the marking of the 27th April – the Day of the Missing Persons of Kosovo.
President Thaçi has said that the International Day of Missing Persons in the world is marked on August 30, but in Kosovo it is rightly marked on 27 April, on the day when the Serbian military and police forces killed and massacred 377 innocent citizens in Meja, Gjakova.
“The great sacrifice and pain of Meja is the one that concluded the Week of the Missing and of the victims of the Serbian state terror throughout Kosovo, like in Qirez and Likoshan, in Prekaz, Reçak, Krusha, Izbica, Rezalla, Çikatova, Poklek, Qyshk and everywhere where innocent inhabitants suffered during the war years. Kosovo’s freedom and independence at its foundations has the blood and lives of the martyrs. Therefore, for the martyrs of Kosovo, institutional reverence is eternal”, stated President Thaçi.
He said that we will always bow with deep respect and piety in front of every martyr.
“The freedom, democracy and every value built with effort and sacrifice in the free Kosovo, is not complete without the punishment of the criminals for the murdered, massacred persons and without clarifying the fate of the missing and buried persons inside and outside of Kosovo”, said President Thaçi.
The Head of State stressed that he praises the work of all the local and international institutions done so far to clarify the fate of the missing. But, according to him, the families of the missing persons rightly ask for more to be done in order to clarify the truth for their loved ones.
“They rightly seek to finally know who the official orderers and executioners of the crimes in the 1998-1999 period were. The local institutions, associations and commissions for missing persons have done as much as they have has capacities in this regard. Efforts to illuminate every crime case on innocent civilians will never cease. But, what remains outside the possibility of influence of our institutions, is a matter for the international community to exert serious pressure on official Belgrade, which possesses the archives and accurate records of the actions of the Serbian army and police”, added President Thaçi.
At the end, President Thaçi said that Kosovo and its citizens have a clear political and strategic orientation and integration into the EU, NATO and UN are the vision and future of Kosovo.