TIRANA, April 16 /ATA/ On 16 April 1999, a large-scale exodus of Kosovo Albanians towards Albania commenced amid the escalating conflict in Kosovo. The city of Kukës became a primary reception point, extending unprecedented hospitality to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons who were forced to flee their homes in the face of widespread violence and persecution. Twenty-seven years on, 16 April is commemorated as one of the most traumatic and defining episodes in the recent history of the Albanian people.

The residents of Kukës demonstrated extraordinary solidarity and humanity, welcoming Kosovo Albanians into their homes and sharing whatever they had at their tables. The hospitality of Kukës remains a rare example of human and national values in a time of crisis.

The exodus was a consequence of the implementation of the Serbian nationalist project known as “Horseshoe.” Through this plan, the Serbian state sought to carry out the ethnic cleansing of the Albanian population in Kosovo.

Between March and June 1999, the total number of Albanians forcibly displaced reached nearly 1 million. The majority of these individuals crossed through the Morina Pass and the Prush Pass.

The expulsion of Kosovo Albanians in 1999 constitutes one of the most tragic exoduses in European history since World War II.

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