April 22, 2023
Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, President of Kosovo, underscored that the intervention by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was about protecting the sanctity of human life and the right of all people to live free from fear of destruction and persecution. “Twenty-five years later, Kosovo shines as a resounding success and advocate for democratic values, embracing diversity, promoting multiethnicity and advancing human rights for all,” she said, also noting her country’s promising economic prospects. Stating that Serbia’s allegations of ethnic cleansing and the persecution of Kosovo Serbs are “baseless and politically motivated”, she said that Kosovo’s legal and institutional structures actively advance the rights of the Kosovo Serb community and promote an inclusive society where all citizens are encouraged to thrive. Kosovo Serbs — around 4 per cent of the population — are granted unparalleled legislative influence, such as veto power over constitutional amendments and laws concerning education, religion, local governance and human rights. Further, domestic law ensures that the Serb language is recognized and used as an official language across Kosovo.
Highlighting Serbia’s ongoing destabilization efforts, however, she said that Belgrade has escalated its constant aggression towards Kosovo over the past year. “Serbia’s consistent efforts to disrupt the integration process in Kosovo, using both criminal and terrorist tactics to exert control and spread fear”, undermine Kosovo’s security and constitutional order, she stressed. Opposing President Vučić’s propaganda and “revisionism based on Russia’s playbook”, she said that “all massacres around Kosovo showed that [former President of Serbia Slobodan] Milošević and his then-propaganda minister, today sitting in the chair of a President”, sought to wipe all Kosovo Albanians off the face of the Earth and destroy all evidence of doing so.
Yet, they failed, she stressed, detailing stories of survivors who — despite living through horror — “have chosen action over despair”. Among them was Vasfije Krasniqi Goodman, who was only 16 years old when former President Milošević’s forces raped her. Now, she is amplifying the voices of wartime sexual violence survivors in Kosovo and beyond. Emphasizing the need to hold perpetrators accountable for these heinous acts, she added that Serbia has not put any perpetrators of wartime rape behind bars. Moreover, over 1,600 persons from Kosovo remain in mass graves in Serbia. Despite agreeing in Brussels to open the relevant archives, President Vučić constantly rejects implementation. “The forcible disappearance of our citizens, many of whom were children, represents one of the most monstrous crimes of Milošević’s genocidal regime,” she said. “Defending the truth, fighting history revisionism and rejecting genocide denial is the only way towards long-lasting peace and reconciliation,” she stressed, adding that “no attempt by Serbia to deny war crimes or revise history will succeed as long as we still have a voice”.