Excavations began today in Zubin Potok to search for remains, following indications that a mass grave may be located there. Bedri Hamza, leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, stressed that this operation is taking place while the trial against former leaders of the Kosovo Liberation Army is ongoing.

In a post, the PDK leader expressed that after nearly three decades, Albanians still face pain and hope to uncover the fate of thousands of civilians forcibly disappeared during the conflict. He described it as intolerable that, as the conclusion of what he called an unfair judicial process in The Hague against former KLA leaders is awaited, Serbia continues to bear no responsibility for the horrific crimes against the people of Kosovo and holds hostage the truth about the missing.

Hamza recalled that the state has paid an extraordinarily high price for freedom. His hometown, Mitrovica, he said, has been hit hard by this tragedy, with over 100 families still anxiously waiting for answers about their relatives. He specifically mentioned the city’s 23 intellectuals, learned people and important national figures, many of whom were his close friends, who were last seen on April 19, 1999, in the rural areas of Zubin Potok.

In closing, Hamza emphasized that this suffering will end only when the truth prevails and justice is served. He underlined Kosovo’s unwavering commitment to seek the truth for every missing person, to secure justice for the families, and to hold the perpetrators of crimes accountable, calling this a moral, national, and institutional obligation.

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In just one year, more than 37,000 residents have left the territory of Kosovo. This reality has raised concerns that entire families who have relocated through family reunification continue to unjustly collect aid from state social schemes. Precisely to stop this phenomenon, authorities have begun a rigorous process of data control.

Liridon Llozani, media advisor at the Ministry of Finance, Labor and Transfers, confirmed that violations have been discovered during inspections. “There is a number of those who have benefited and who were not residents of Kosovo. It is a considerable number of them who have been subjected to the control. Since the process is ongoing, I do not have the exact figure of how many of them have been removed from the benefit scheme for child allowances,” he stated.

The current system of budget fund distribution is facing serious remarks from specialists in the field. According to them, the lack of a clear regulatory framework and the lack of communication between electronic databases among institutions creates favorable ground for abuse with public money.

Social and educational issues expert Bardha Qirezi stressed the need for legal regulation. “I see the problem of allowances as unregulated aid by law, which is given immediately, without clear criteria, and distributed without an interconnection of systems that register the population, to also see the unemployment of the population. In our system, only those persons who register at employment offices are considered unemployed, while we all know that a large part of the population does not register there,” she expressed.

Faced with these suspicions, the Ministry of Finance has warned of drafting a new legal basis that will completely discipline this sector. In parallel, a massive action of comparing information is being developed, using cross-institutional data to identify irregular cases.

“The issue of child allowances, just like some other social schemes, will be regulated by law. All the criteria and forms of benefit will be defined there. The verification process is being done through the e-Kosova platform, but also through the Department of Social Schemes, by comparing our data with the data held by other institutions,” Llozani added.

From the moment the value of child allowances increased, the number of applicants also increased significantly. The main challenge for authorities now is to ensure that millions of euros from citizens’ taxes are destined only for families residing in Kosovo. Until the approval of the new legislation, digital filters will be the decisive mechanism that will determine which individuals will continue to benefit from these schemes.

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