TIRANA, Jan 15 /ATA/ – Prime Minister Edi Rama on Monday paid tribute to the victims of state crime during the atrocious war for Kosovo’s ethnic cleansing on the 25th anniversary Reçak massacre.
In a statement on the social media, the government head Rama said that the massacre in the village of Reçak is an eternal foundation stone in the memory of Kosovo state.
“Honor to the victims of the cruel crime state of war for Kosovo’s ethnic cleansing that shocked the whole world and remains an eternal foundation stone in the memory of the state of Kosovo,” the Premier added.
Kosovo commemorates the 25th anniversary of the Reçak massacre today, with survivors and relatives remembering the 45 innocent Albanian civilians killed in an assault by the Serbian troops in the village in the central part of the country.
On January 15, 1999, during the Kosovo War, 45 people were murdered in the massacre when Serbian forces surrounded the village of Reçak attacked it, and raided houses. Serb army and paramilitaries bombarded the village and then raided houses and 45 men, women, teenagers and children were taken from their homes and beaten and shot in the hills above the village.
Former Head of the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, veteran US diplomat William Walker visited the village one day after and publicly declared it as a massacre by Serb security forces, describing it a crime against humanity.
This declaration garnered international attention and paved the way for the US-led NATO bombing campaign in Kosovo that began on March 24, 1999, and lasted for 78 days, driving out Slobodan Milosevic’s forces out of Kosovo.
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