During 2025, 32 locations were excavated in Kosovo in search of individuals who went missing during the 1998–1999 war. These efforts led to the discovery of 16 sets of human remains believed to belong to missing persons.
At the annual report presentation of the Government Commission for Missing Persons, Chairman Andin Hoti highlighted the ongoing lack of cooperation from Serbia as a major challenge. He emphasized that Kosovo continues to push for Serbia to open classified archives, which are believed to contain information on the fate of over 1,571 missing persons.
A map presented by the Commission showed the locations where excavations were conducted. Of the 32 sites, remains of 16 missing individuals were recovered, while 15 sites yielded no findings and one was deemed not of interest for excavation.
Director of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, Ditor Haliti, stated that the institution completed the documentation of remains for 27 individuals, which were subsequently returned to their families. During the year, bone samples from 68 cases were sent for DNA analysis, while 63 DNA results were received, including 10 comparative results.
Commission member Kushtrim Gara noted that approximately 150 gigabytes of data on missing persons were received from the former International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), helping to support ongoing investigations.
Looking ahead, the Commission requested permission to conduct excavations at additional sites in Serbia, including Batajnica, where remains of 58 missing persons are believed to be located.
Kosovo still has approximately 1,600 missing persons from the war.
