Kosovo honors victims of the Recak massacre

2026-01-15 13:15:24, Kosova & Bota CNA

Kosovo honored the victims of the Recak massacre on Thursday in the village of Shtime, where 45 Albanian civilians were killed by Serbian forces 27 years ago. The massacre prompted NATO to launch bombing campaigns to end the 1998-99 war in Kosovo, and ultimately the country's independence several years after liberation.

Kosovo leaders, President Vjosa Osmani, acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti - leaders of political parties and many citizens gathered at the victims' memorial in the village of Reçak - about 30 kilometers from the capital Pristina, to honor the fallen. William Walker, head of the OSCE Verification Mission in Kosovo during the war, who at the time documented the crimes committed in this village, also paid tribute. President Osmani said that 27 years later, "the wounds of Reçak still speak."

"The pain is fresh for the families and for the entire people of Kosovo, because there is still no justice for the crimes that were committed here, but also in other parts of Kosovo ," said Osmani.

She criticized Serbia for continuing with "the same policies and the same mentality, because denying the crime, as they are doing with the denial of the crime of Recak, is a double crime."

The government of then-Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic claimed at the time that those killed were all members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), killed in clashes with state security forces.

Among the dead was a 12-year-old boy.

Serbian officials continue to deny this massacre today, claiming that it was "a big lie and a terrible forgery."

Kosovo's acting Prime Minister, Kurti, vowed that the country's institutions would work to bring those responsible for the massacre to justice.

"We are here together, as heads of institutions, with mayors and colleagues from the Government and Parliament, but also other state officials, to express our pain for this open wound, which still lacks justice, but at the same time our commitment that we will always be committed to bringing the criminals to justice and punishing them for the atrocities of the past 27 years ," said Kurti.

Last month, the Kosovo Special Prosecution Office indicted 21 people for the Recak massacre. The prosecution has requested that their trial be held in absentia, saying they are inaccessible to Kosovo's justice system.

Meanwhile, the leader of the Democratic Party of Kosovo, Bedri Hamza, said that "we are here to express our honor and respect for these fallen and this event, which is one of the events that has contributed to the freedom and independence of Kosovo."

The leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, Lumir Abdixhiku, briefly emphasized that “Reçak is not forgotten and justice for Reçak will always be sought .” After the Reçak massacre, in March 1999, NATO attacked military and police targets in the former Yugoslavia.

The 78-day bombing campaign ended on June 10, 1999, following the adoption of United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244.

NATO's intervention in Kosovo also enabled the return to their homes of more than 800,000 refugees, displaced persons inside and outside Kosovo. In the war in Kosovo in 1998-99, over 13,000 civilians were killed and thousands more disappeared. Over 1,500 people are still missing - most of them Albanians. /REL