Families of Racak victims demand that memory not fade

In front of the memorial plaques for the victims of Recak, the families of the 45 killed gathered to remember their loved ones on the 27th anniversary of the massacre. They laid wreaths to commemorate their loved ones and expressed their concern that this crime may not survive time.

On the 27th anniversary of the Recak massacre, family members of the 45 killed on Wednesday laid wreaths in front of the memorial plaques of their relatives.

Among them was Mina Beqiri, whose two sons, aged 12 and 15, and her husband were killed by Serbian forces on January 15, 1999.

She also gave an order.

"We also gave them for freedom, we gave them for their own place. I hope it goes well, and we become of one mind, you young people, don't take it away, we have fun. These people have gone, we gave blood so that you can take care of us a little. I have my husband and two sons here, the youngest son is 12 years old," she said.

And Avdullah Shaqiri, a resident of Recak, expressed his concern that January 15th and the memory of the events of 27 years ago will not survive time.

"It started in Prekaz, it ended in Reçak. I'm still stumped as to why they're making this a state holiday for Prekaz and Reçak, making it a state holiday, let the youth know when they come back after 50 years that something happened in Reçak," he said.

45 Albanian civilians were killed in Recak, and there are 44 graves in the memorial complex.

Hasan Metushi has been searching for his mother's body for 27 years.

His hopes that he will one day find her have faded.

"We hold out hope that we will find her and bury her among these here. But it seems to me that we have very little hope, very little hope. Because if there were more missing bodies, I believe that someone would announce that in such and such a place there are so many bodies, but only her, they buried her wherever they wanted," he declared.

Every year, Hidajet Syla comes from Germany to remember her family members who were killed 27 years ago.

"I have two brothers, my father and ten cousins ​​who were massacred. I live in Germany and come to Kosovo every anniversary," Syla said.

The Serbian state still denies the Recak massacre after 27 years, and in Kosovo, on December 30, 2025, the Special Prosecution filed an indictment against 21 people suspected of war crimes in this village of Shtime, with the proposal that the defendants be tried in absentia.

Racak received worldwide attention after William Walker, head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) verification mission at the time, described the massacre as a crime against humanity.

Two months later, NATO began a bombing campaign against Serbian forces.