Kosovo and Serbia have agreed to operationalize a joint commission to implement their 2023 Declaration on Missing Persons, European Union officials said on Thursday, marking progress in the long-stalled dialogue between the two sides.
The technical talks in Brussels brought together the chief negotiators of Kosovo and Serbia under the facilitation of the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina dialogue, Peter Sorensen, who confirmed the establishment of the commission aimed at clarifying the fate of people still missing from the 1998-1999 conflict.
Kosovo’s chief negotiator, Besnik Bislimi, said the two sides reached the agreement after several hours of discussions and formalized it in a joint session late on Wednesday. He said representatives from both delegations will meet in the coming weeks to set initial priorities for the commission’s work.
The commission is tasked with supporting the implementation of the declaration agreed by Kosovo’s Prime Minister Albin Kurti and Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vučić in May 2023, which aims to shed light on the fate of those still unaccounted for from the war, provide closure for families, and foster reconciliation.
The EU has backed the process as part of broader efforts to normalise relations between Kosovo and Serbia, though overall progress in the dialogue has been uneven.