The United Kingdom’s Special Envoy for the Western Balkans, Dame Karen Pierce, has said that new findings published by Kosovo’s Institute for War Crimes represent an important contribution toward establishing facts, justice, and accountability for victims of the Kosovo war.
In a statement published by the British Embassy in Kosovo, Pierce welcomed the release of the evidence, saying it helps document the fate of more than 13,000 people who were killed or went missing during the conflict, as well as thousands of others who were displaced and suffered losses, injuries, or trauma.
“These findings are an important contribution toward building fact-based evidence and accountability for more than 13,000 people who lost their lives or disappeared during the conflict in Kosovo, as well as for many others who were forced from their homes and suffered losses, injuries, or trauma,” Pierce said.
The British envoy described the events in Kosovo as among the darkest periods in Europe’s recent history and stressed the importance of confronting the past through a sincere commitment to truth and reconciliation.
“Lasting peace requires all communities to engage honestly with the past and work toward truth, reconciliation, and mutual understanding,” she stated.
Pierce added that, decades after the end of widespread human suffering, the United Kingdom remains committed to supporting lasting peace and security in Kosovo and across the Western Balkans.
Her remarks came after the publication of new documentation by Kosovo’s Institute for War Crimes, which aims to contribute to the preservation of evidence and the documentation of crimes committed during the 1998–1999 war.
