On 25 September 2025, the Head of the Forensic Medicine Team of the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX), Luisa Marinho, and the EULEX Human Rights Advisor Valentina Vitali contributed to the roundtable discussion “Paths to Closure: Families and Societies Facing the Legacy of the Missing,” organized by NGO Aktiv, Pro Peace Kosovo, and the Missing Persons Resource Center at the Civic Energy Center in Mitrovica North to address the challenges and honor the memory of missing persons related to the Kosovo conflict.

The roundtable brought together missing persons’ families, civil society, representatives of institutions and EULEX to discuss current efforts, the humanitarian imperative, and ways to strengthen cooperation among stakeholders to shed light on the fate of missing persons.

EULEX representatives emphasized the Mission’s dedication to support institutions in guaranteeing the right of families of missing persons to know the truth and elaborated upon the extensive EULEX forensic expertise – namely anthropology, archaeology and analytical capability - provided to the Kosovo’s Institute of Forensic Medicine to search and identify missing persons.

Highlighting the difficulties of this relentless work, Marinho stated: “There are many challenges in the search and identification process. After so many years, witness memories have faded, and the situation on the ground has changed due to erosion, constructions on potential sites, and many other factors. These circumstances make our work very difficult. Nevertheless, we have the capacity to continue, and the pain of the families gives us even greater determination in our efforts to provide answers for them.”

Over 1,590 persons remain unaccounted for. Families of the missing and NGO representatives stressed that more than 25 years after the conflict, thousands of relatives continue to live with uncertainty, grief, and unanswered questions. They emphasized the urgent need to prioritize this issue, strengthen existing mechanisms, and establish new ones to accelerate progress.