The first hearing was held in Prishtina on July 31, with all defendants absent as they are believed to be in Serbia. Kosovo authorities have issued international arrest warrants but say there has been no cooperation from Serbian institutions.

According to Kosovo prosecutors, Serbian forces surrounded Reçak village on Jan. 15, 1999, shelled it and killed civilians who were not involved in fighting. The killings triggered international condemnation and were documented by the OSCE mission and later examined by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

Serbia has continued to reject the characterization of the events as a massacre, saying those killed were members of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) during a legitimate operation.

Among those indicted is former Serbian special police commander Goran Radosavljević, known as “Guri”, whose name has been linked to the operation in ICTY records but who has never been tried in Serbia.

Kosovo’s Special Prosecution Office said legal requests were sent through international assistance channels, but no response had been received from Serbian authorities.

The Reçak killings remain one of the most significant and documented events of the Kosovo war and contributed to increased international pressure that preceded NATO’s 1999 intervention.

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On January 15, 1999, Serbian forces killed at least 45 civilians in the village of Reçak. William Walker, then head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) verification mission in Kosovo, described the killings as a crime against humanity.

According to witnesses, Serbian forces surrounded the village in the early hours of the morning and began shelling it with heavy artillery at around 6:30 a.m. After the bombardment ended, security forces entered the village and carried out house-to-house raids.

Images and reports from Reçak drew widespread international condemnation and focused global attention on the conflict in Kosovo and shed light on the genocidal plan of the former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic, prompting intensified diplomatic efforts.

The massacre played a key role in bringing the Kosovo issue to international peace talks held later in Rambouillet and Paris. The failure of those negotiations ultimately led to NATO’s military intervention against Serbian forces, their withdrawal from Kosovo and the establishment of an international administration.

At the time, Reçak dominated international media coverage and diplomatic discussions. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright later recalled being alarmed by early reports of the killings and concerned about their implications for Kosovo.

Walker travelled quickly to the site and publicly accused Serbian forces, declaring the killings a crime against humanity.

Fighting between the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) and Serbian forces resumed in the days following the massacre, as Serbian authorities sought to remove the bodies. Those efforts failed, and the killings were documented by international observers.

The events in Reçak marked a turning point in international engagement, with scenes from the village deeply unsettling diplomats and observers and reinforcing calls for action to protect civilians.

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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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In a post on the social media, President Begaj said that the massacre is “a strong motive to defend peace and security.”

“Today, a quarter of a century since the Reçak massacre, we pray for the souls of innocent civilians, victims of genocide and crimes against humanity committed by Slobodan Milosevic’s regime in Kosovo,” President Begaj said.

The Albanian head of state underlined that the massacre shook the world and garnered international attention to the barbaric atrocities committed in Kosovo.

“Today’s commemoration is a strong motive to defend peace, security, human freedoms and dignity from any from any machinery of violence fueled by racism, expansionism and hostility towards  other people,” President Begaj stated.

The President accompanied his post with a picture showing the ceremony, where the U.S. veteran diplomat William G. Walker was presented with the “Knight of the Order of the Flag” award in a gesture of gratitude for his role in informing the world about the massacre in the village of Reçak on January 15, 1999, during the Kosovo War, when 45 innocent civilians were brutally killed by the army and paramilitary troops of Slobodan Milosevic’s regime.

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.

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The bloodshed in the village of Reçak became a turning point in the conflict between the Serb-led Yugoslav security forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), fighting for Kosovo’s independence from Serbia after the breakup up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

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.

Kosovo state institutions, President Vjosa Osmani, Parliament Speaker Glauk Konjufca, and the Prime Minister Albin Kurti visited the village of Reçak to pay tributes to the innocent victims.

President Vjosa Osmani called for justice for the innocent victims killed in this macabre crime against the civilians.

During the commemoration ceremony in Reçak, PM Kurti expressed gratitude to the then OSCE Ambassador to Kosovo, William Walker, who also attended today’s event, who told the world what had actually happened in this 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.

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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.

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. Serbia initially stated that those killed were Kosovo Liberation Army militants but this was not the case.

The bloodshed became a turning point in the conflict between the Serb-led Yugoslav security forces and the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), fighting for Kosovo’s independence from Serbia after the breakup up of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

The Massacre garnered attention of the civilized Western world and paved the way for the US-led NATO bombing campaign in Kosovo to drive out Slobodan Milosevic’s forces out of the country.

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“Today we honor the memory of 45 innocent men, women and children that were massacred in Reçak by the Serbian regime in an act of deliberate and indiscriminate murder,” Foreign Minister said in a post via the social media, stating that crimes committed by the Serbian regime in Kosovo still call for justice.

The Albanian diplomacy chief notes that their memory and the memory of the thousands of men, women and children killed in countless other war crimes committed by the Serbian regime in Kosovo still calls for justice and reconciliation.

Xhaçka went on saying that the massacre also serves as a powerful reminder of how much our whole region needs to work together to build a future of peace and prosperity governed by a philosophy that rejects the genocide mentality that was responsible for the Reçak Massacre.

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. Men were dragged from their homes, beaten and then shot, women were sexually assaulted and raped. Serbia initially stated that those killed were Kosovo Liberation Army militants but this was not the case.

The Recak massacre was witnessed by the head of the OSCE mission in Kosovo, William Walker. He was the first international official to state there were “crimes against humanity” happening in Kosovo while visiting the crime scene in the village.

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