Missing Persons Commission head Veljko Odalovic banned from entering Kosovo and Metohija

Photo: Nedim Grabovica / Avalon Editorial / Profimedia

President of the Commission of the Government of Serbia for Missing Persons Veljko Odalovic was banned from entering the territory of Kosovo and Metohija by the Kosovo police today at the administrative crossing Merdare, RTV Gracanica reports.

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Odalovic was supposed to attend an important meeting of the Association of Families of the Missing and Kidnapped Persons today, and he announced his visit two days ago.

"This is just one of the extremely unreasonable moves of Pristina institutions when it comes to missing persons. It's obvious they are not interested in that issue. They have politicized the issue of the missing so now we have no contacts or information. They forget that this Working Group is a mechanism that has solved over 1,800 cases of missing persons so far. We have always strived to work together with Pristina at the sites, to attend all the meetings, to be someone that in conversation with the families stands in front of them and tells them what we have done and what we will do next. This way, we have a total stalemate. Pristina is constantly talking about the missing, but they aren't doing anything. We are ready to share all information we have in an extremely responsible way. The issue of the missing in the dialogue is a humane and civilizational obligation.

Unfortunately, that has also been blocked, and the families of the missing Kosovo Albanians, as well as the families of the missing Serbs, deserve answers. International mediators who are responsible for the dialogue and the process of the mechanism through the Working Groups are silent and are not putting pressure on the Pristina side to act responsibly towards all obligations. Unlike them, Belgrade has fulfilled its obligations. The purpose of my planned meeting was to reassure the families. I believe that there will be someone who will talk some sense into the Pristina side and make them do what is in the interest of the families, not politics. We are the ones who are responsible, the families ask us for information, but we cannot do our job, among other things precisely because I cannot cross the administrative line, I cannot attend the meeting and inform them about what we are working on," said Veljko Odalovic.

Odalovic also made an appeal on the families of the missing Serbs to put pressure on Pristina institutions together with the families of the missing Albanians from Kosovo and Metohija in order to put the issue of the missing back on the table.

(Telegraf.rs)