Honourable families of those who fell for freedom,
Honourable Mayor, Mr. Latifi,
Honourable Ministers, Minister Hoti and Minister Pacolli,
Honourable former Prime Minister Haradinaj,
Honourable members of the Assembly of Kosovo,
Representatives of the security institutions,
Honourable guests,
We got together again this year to remember, honour and never forget one of the deepest wounds of our recent history, the massacre in Krushë e madhe.
In March 1999, this land was covered with indescribable pain. 241 residents of Krushë were massacred by the forces of the Serbian genocidal regime, among them 7 children and 5 women, including a pregnant woman. They were not killed in battle, but were killed in their village, in their homes, in the embrace of their families.
This was a premeditated crime, this was a planned massacre, it was a deliberate act to take life, to erase memory, to erase the very existence of the inhabitants of this village. It was an attempt to exterminate Albanians from their lands, but the tragedy does not end there. Even today, 64 inhabitants of Krusha e Madhe are still on the lists of those who have disappeared by force. They are open wounds, they are indescribable absences, which weigh daily on their families first and foremost, but also on our conscience as a nation and as a state and interrupted histories, which still await justice.
Among these open wounds lies the still unsolved fate of Ukshin Hoti, the inimitable intellectual, the courageous thinker and the voice that never refused to be subdued. He was a political and academic figure, who articulated freedom as a right and as a necessity.
His enforced disappearance remains one of the deepest wounds of this history, an injustice that has not faded with the passage of time.
But, at the same time, the fate of Ukshin Hoti is also proof of our determination as a state, because every time his name is mentioned, and that of all those who are still forcibly disappeared by the genocidal regime of Serbia, not only the pain returns to our state and families, but above all the demand for justice. The memory is brought back that there are stories that can never be closed without being revealed, just as there are figures that no one can ever erase, because they will forever live in the memory of our people.
However, in the face of the tragedy it faced, Krusha e madhe did not break.
From this immense pain, women rose up, who proved that life is stronger than death. One of them is Fahrie Hoti, a woman who turned pain into strength, loss into resilience, and tears into work and dignity. She, like all the women of Krusha, proved that survival is not just about living, but about getting up, building, never giving up, and above all, continuing to work for justice every day.
Krusha e madhe today is a testament to this strength, a testament that the whole world saw with its own eyes. It is proof that even when everything seems lost, one can find the strength to continue and fight for causes greater than oneself, but this strength does not replace justice.
Therefore, from this place we once again demand responsibility. We demand that the perpetrators of these crimes be brought to justice, so that the pain does not remain nameless and unanswered. Only in this way can we build a future where such crimes are never repeated.
Today, as we bow to the victims of Krusha e madhe, we also make a permanent pledge that we will never forget, that we will seek justice without stopping, that we will keep the memory alive forever, not only as pain but also as a responsibility.
Let us look forward, but never forget and learn to build a future where human dignity is inviolable.
Eternal glory to all the martyrs of Krusha e madhe!
Eternal glory to all the martyrs of the Kosovo Liberation Army!
Eternal honour to the inimitable intellectual, Ukshin Hoti!
Eternal honour to all the forcibly disappeared, for whom we will continue to work to find out their fate!
May God bless Krusha!
May God bless the Republic of Kosovo!
Thank you!
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