Kurti calls for opening the archives of the 37th Motorised Brigade of the former Yugoslav Army

Kosovo’s acting Prime Minister, Albin Kurti, reiterated his call for the archives of the 37th Motorised Brigade of the former Yugoslav Army to be opened while presenting a report on excavations in Zubin Potok. According to him, this unit committed massacres particularly in Drenica, but also in other parts of Kosovo, KosovaPress reports.

Kurti said the brigade’s documentation was classified 12 years ago for a 30-year period, meaning it will remain closed for another 18 years. He stressed that families who have waited 27 and 28 years to learn the fate of their relatives should not have to face waiting, anxiety and pain for another 18 years.

According to him, international pressure is crucial on this issue. Kurti called on Serbia to immediately open the archived and classified files of the 37th Motorised Brigade of the Yugoslav Army, namely in 2024 rather than in 2044.

He also addressed the excavations carried out in northern Kosovo, saying that, according to the Commission’s detailed presentation, they had been limited and conducted under difficult conditions. Often, Kurti said, the process was hindered by insecurity, demonstrating that the fight against criminal gangs and the establishment of law and order in this part of the country had been prerequisites for successful and unhindered investigations, searches and excavations.

The acting prime minister also stated that the international community should increase pressure on Serbia to implement the declaration on forcibly disappeared persons.

He said that hundreds of families are not only seeking clarification about the fate of their closest relatives, but also justice. According to Kurti, Serbia has denied them both and continues to do so by concealing and refusing to acknowledge crimes, refusing to open the archives and classifying them, with the aim of distorting the truth and evading responsibility.

Kurti added that Serbia also arrests and persecutes the few Serbs who have dared to testify before international institutions. For this reason, he said international actors should exert more pressure on the northern neighbour to implement the declaration agreed in Brussels on 2 May 2023 on forcibly disappeared persons, by opening and making available state archives that could help clarify the fate of the missing.

According to Kosovo authorities, around 1,600 people remain missing in Kosovo.