Petkovic: Term "forcibly disappeared" agreed on in declaration

BELGRADE - The head of the Serbian government Office for Kosovo-Metohija Petar Petkovic said on Tuesday evening Pristina and Belgrade had agreed on the term "forcibly disappeared" in a declaration on missing persons after two years of obstructions by Pristina.

He said a signed statement by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic had been enclosed to the text of the declaration to clarify important matters related to the term.

"The statement confirms that we have protected Serbian interests. For over two years, Serbia insisted on this declaration being adopted while Pristina obstructed that over the term 'enforced disappearance', defined under Point 2 of the international convention on enforced disappearance. Pristina insisted on that term to be able to call Belgrade to account for enforced disappearances, but we did not agree to that, and the term 'forcibly disappeared' was agreed on," Petkovic told reporters in Brussels.

It is not a legal construct, but a term that indicates the circumstances of a person's disappearance, Petkovic explained.

He said 1,621 people, including 568 Serbs, remained missing since the Kosovo-Metohija conflict.

"We have acted on all requests by Pristina and carried out excavations on 23 locations in central Serbia, but Pristina is taking no action on Belgrade's requests regarding nine locations that we suspect are burial sites of Serbs," Petkovic also said.