Caretaker Prime Minister Albin Kurti addressed a critical consultative meeting organized by the Institute for Crimes Committed During the War in Kosovo on Wednesday. The high-level gathering focused on reviewing and expanding the initial version of a preliminary comprehensive registry documenting victims of the late-1990s conflict.
In his address, Kurti emphasized that building an unassailable state record of victims is a fundamental national duty tied deeply to collective memory, legal justice, and human dignity.
“Our people experienced war, deportation, massacres, systemic violence, enforced disappearances, and organized destruction,” Kurti stated. “These are not distant memories or topics that can be closed with the passage of time. They are historical, political, and human facts that have shaped thousands of families and our state’s path to freedom.”
Institutionalizing the Legacy of Truth
The Government of Kosovo formally established the Institute for Crimes Committed During the War in Kosovo in November 2023 to unify, verify, and systematize decades of fragmented research compiled by non-governmental organizations, independent historians, and victims’ families.
- Transitioning Memory into Evidence: Kurti highlighted that the state cannot rely solely on fragile individual recollections. “Memory is precious, but it must be protected by documentation,” he argued, noting that names, dates, locations, testimonies, and physical evidence must be linked into a rigorous, centralized system.
- A Two-Year Auditing Process: The preliminary victims list presented at the session is the cumulative result of a two-year initiative dedicated to collecting, cross-referencing, and authenticating demographic data.
The Call for Belgrade to Open Its Archives
Kurti explicitly directed focus toward regional accountability, stressing that building a stable, long-term peace in the Western Balkans hinges entirely on confronting the historical truth.
He reiterated Prishtina’s ongoing demand that Belgrade must confront its state-sponsored wartime past, completely open its classified state and military archives to international researchers, and act in a spirit of transparency and remorse. Kurti vowed that Kosovo will continuously expand its investigative resources to ensure the historical truth remains accessible both to contemporary international courts and to future generations.
