The Prime Minister of Kosovo, Albin Kurti, stated at the solemn session of the Kosovo Assembly, organized on the occasion of the Memorial Day for Survivors of War Sexual Violence "Return My Light", that sexual violence was used systematically by Serbia during the war in Kosovo.
Kurti said that Kosovo's institutions will not allow the sacrifice and suffering of the survivors to be ignored, emphasizing that the search for justice will continue without interruption.
"Sexual violence was systematically used by Serbia as a tool of war in Kosovo during 1998–1999," Kurti said.
He recalled that after more than two decades of impunity, in July 2021 an important step towards justice was marked with the first conviction for this category of crimes, citing the case of Zoran Vukotić, convicted of sexual violence against an Albanian woman in Vushtrri.
According to him, in recent years there has been an increase in the number of trials and convictions for war crimes, which are not subject to statute of limitations and are not pardoned, while amendments to the Criminal Code have also enabled trials in absentia. However, Kurti said that the number of convictions still remains low compared to the scale of the crimes committed.
He emphasized that these crimes have left serious and long-lasting consequences, affecting not only the survivors and their families, but also future generations through ongoing trauma.
The Prime Minister also criticized Serbia's institutions, saying that while the Kosovo Assembly honors war victims, the Serbian Assembly, according to him, has recently promoted narratives that distort the truth and glorify units responsible for war crimes.
"While Kosovo honors the victims of war crimes, Serbia continues to serve as a haven for hiding criminals and denying crimes. Today, our Assembly of the Republic of Kosovo honors the victims of sexual violence used as a weapon of war, while the Assembly of Serbia a few days ago was transformed into a space for institutional falsification of the truth and glorification of units responsible for war crimes in Kosovo," Kurti said.
He also mentioned an exhibition in the Serbian Parliament about units of the Yugoslav Army and the Serbian Ministry of Internal Affairs, whose commanders, according to him, were convicted of crimes against humanity in Kosovo during 1999./Telegrafi.
