Distinguished families from Studime and all of Vushtrri
Honourable Speaker Konjufca,
Honourable Mayor Idrizi
Honourable Chairman Krasniqi,
Honourable Members of Parliament,
Honourable Village Mayor,
Representatives of the families of martyrs, and KLA veterans,
Honourable former Mayors y,
Honourable representatives of the Organizations that emerged from the war,
Dear guests,
We have gathered here today to commemorate the 116 defenceless Albanian martyrs, who fell for our freedom; among them many children and many women, including pregnant mothers who, 24 years ago, in less than two hours were barbarically massacred by the Serbian genocidal regime.
I am also here to share the pain with you and to tell you that the pain that you as a family experienced on that terrible day, but also on each subsequent day, is also the pain of all of Kosovo.
24 years ago, one of the most terrible and largest massacres of the war in Kosovo took place in your village, which clearly testified to the brutality and ferocity of the Serbian genocidal regime.
Evidence shows that the massacre was organized in advance, by the political and murderous mechanisms of the Serbian regime. Many of the civilian victims were executed from close range and in cold blood, by machine guns or bayonets.
Today, we must remember the innocent lives that were taken through violence and be close to the families who lost their loved ones.
Today, we must also remember the courage and resilience of those who survived and who bore witness every day to the dark days.
The study, but also every place where massacres were carried out by the Serbian genocidal regime throughout Kosovo, demonstrated the power of resurrection, resilience and renewal.
Today we live with the pain of all those who fell victim to the freedom of Kosovo, but we also live with their testament, the Independent Republic of Kosovo.
In the foundations of our state lies the heroic sacrifice of the girls and boys of the Kosovo Liberation Army, all those who fought together with over 3 thousand martyrs who fell for freedom.
We are forever grateful to every soldier of our Kosovo Liberation Army for the freedom we enjoy today. They defended dignity, restored hope and made freedom a reality.
The Republic of Kosovo bears their seal, so our unrelenting effort is to bring the perpetrators of Serbian crimes to justice in addition to remembering all the fallen.
Dear participants
Historical memory will be in function of respecting our past, documenting it, as well as building a sustainable future.
What happened in Studime 24 years ago, is a strong argument that history cannot be rewritten and that in 1998/99, the historic facts were clear. Our people were killed just because they were Albanians. They were killed in their homes, in their lands, in the lands of their ancestors.
Therefore today, like never before, we must say clearly and emphatically that Serbia committed genocide in Kosovo and that lasting and long-term peace is possible only when the perpetrators are brought to justice and when the fate of over 1,600 disappeared by violence and when all those who commit these monstrous crimes pay for their crimes.
We must never forget the history lessons as we must not forget the atrocities committed during the war.
We will always honour the memory of our heroes and martyrs, all the victims of war crimes because our war was just, it was for freedom, it was for the state, for which whole generations contributed.
The scars of atrocities like the one that took place in Studime remain engraved in our collective memory, bringing to our attention the high price of freedom.
Studime is a symbol of the barbarity of Serbian crimes, of policemen who separated children from their mothers’ laps and massacred pregnant women, but Studime is also a symbol of survival, a symbol of pride for those who fell for this land, it is a symbol of our resurrection as a nation.
We have an obligation to keep the memory of Studime and all the massacres all over Kosovo alive as a clear testimony of the difficult journey we went through.
Thanks to our KLA liberation war, the martyrs and all the victims who were martyred, today we live safe and free lives in the state of Kosovo.
May the memory for them is eternal!
Glory be to them!
