On 26 January, the Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano published an in-depth interview with the Head of EULEX’s Press and Public Information Office and Spokesperson, Ioanna Lachana, who explained the mandate and work of the Mission in supporting its local counterparts at the Institute of Forensic Medicine (IFM) to determine the fate of Kosovo’s missing persons.

Lachana pointed out that, from the beginning of its mandate to date, EULEX has been working relentlessly to locate and return the remains of missing persons to their families. During 2022 only, the Mission has conducted 42 field operations, resulting in 16 exhumations and in the identification of remains of six individuals.

In her interview, the EULEX Spokesperson said that there are still 1,621 missing persons from the Kosovo war and its aftermath, and highlighted the challenges faced by IFM’s experts in finding potential clandestine graves and in the identification of victims, explaining how these challenges become more and more difficult as time goes by.

Full interview in Italian language: Kosovo, ancora più di 1.600 desaparecidos del conflitto con la Serbia. E nel Paese torna la paura della guerra - Il Fatto Quotidiano