President of the Republic of Kosovo, Mrs. Atifete Jahjaga, participated today at the Memorial gathering on the anniversary of the massacre by the Serbian forces on the residents of the Krusha e Vogël village in 1999.
President Jahjaga also paid her homage at the cemetery where the victims of this massacre are buried, and then held a speech in front of participants gathered for this memorial gathering.
President’s speech:
Honourable representatives of the institutions of the Republic of Kosovo, both central and local level ones,
Honourable veterans and war invalids of the Kosovo Liberation Army,
Honourable family members of the martyrs,
Honourable citizens,
Honourable people of Krusha;
In days like today, we feel the pain and sadness, because we gather together to remember our dearly beloved who were killed and massacred by the barbaric hands, we remember with unceasing pain all our children, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, mothers, fathers and relatives, who are no longer with us. A number of these martyrs still have no grave to eternally rest, a grave where we could come and grieve and honour them during our days of pain.
Massacre in Krusha e Vogël, fourteen years ago, shook the whole nation. It is one of the most shameful massacres committed upon the civilian population, one of the massive massacres and murders committed by the Serbian occupying army, police and paramilitary forces all around Kosovo.
Honourable people of Krusha,
Sacrifice of the dearest sons and daughters of our nation, who fell for the freedom of the fatherland is a priceless one and will always be remembered as a proof that our freedom and independence did not come cheaply.
Keep this in our minds, we must today find the force to become more organised, more dedicated to make our country, Republic of Kosovo, a democratic and advanced country, a country that creates job opportunities for its citizens, educational opportunities, a better life for all of us living in this land today; us, who’s memories are still fresh about the sufferings and the war traumas, as well as for the coming generations, for them to live as free and equal in a Kosovo who is a member of European Union and in eternal friendship with United States of America.
Honourable citizens,
Our road to freedom, independence and democracy was a just road, was a dedication and engagement of the whole nation, well organised warfare, In realisation of this ideal of ours, for which many activists and intellectuals perished, the honourable Professor Ukshin Hoti being one of them, we were not alone.
As never before in our history of many centuries, we had an still have, the full and sincere help of the United States of America, countries of the European Union and of the North-Atlantic Military Alliance-NATO.
As a nation and as a state, we express our gratitude for this help and we express our commitment that we will incessantly work to honour the memory of all those who fell in realisation of their ideals of freedom and their sacrifice for the fatherland.
With our work, our results and successes we must demonstrate that we had deserved the help of our international friends.
Honourable citizens of Krusha,
Honourable people of Krusha,
I have said before too, that we shall never cease until all the criminals are brought to face the justice, because only in this manner we can ensure that crime will not remain unpunished and only in this manner can we prevent crimes like this to happen again to any nation or any country. This is a permanent dedication of our judicial bodies. Today, we are proud to build the Republic of Kosovo as a factor of peace and stability, as a civic state in which its citizens enjoy equal rights and freedoms, regardless of their size, religion or ethnicity.
Values of our society are values of European civilisation and we move forward by gathering our strength from sacrifice of our dearly beloved ones.
Eternal Glory to all the Martyrs!