Kosovo marked the 27th anniversary of the Recak massacre honoring the 45 ethnic Albanian civilians killed by the Serbian police and military on January 15, 1999, an atrocity that shocked the international community and became a turning point in stopping ethnic cleansing in the country.
On Thursday, Kosovo remembered the 45 ethnic Albanian civilians—children, men, women and elderly—killed by Serbian forces in the village of Recak of Shtime on January 15, 1999—marking 27 years since the massacre committed by the Serbian police and military.
Kosovo’s leaders, including President Vjosa Osmani and acting Prime Minister Albin Kurti, paid homage at the Recak memorial complex.
International representatives also joined the commemorations.
Ethnic Albanian mourners follow coffins covered with Albanian flags up a hill in Recak, southern Kosovo, on February 11, 1999 as hundreds attended the funeral. Photo: EPA/ANJA NIEDRINGHAUS.
In a post on X, the U.S. Embassy in Kosovo stated that the Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Josh Peterson joined Kosovo’s leaders and citizens in remembering the victims of Recak massacre.
“An act of unspeakable horror that stunned the world. May their memory stand as a reminder of our shared duty to defend truth and dignity and a call to never forget what the world witnessed,” the embassy wrote.
The OSCE Mission in Kosovo likewise marked the massacre anniversary with a post on Facebook: “A reminder of the collective duty to uphold human rights, ensuring accountability and justice for all.”
A U.S. Embassy in Kosovo representative pays homage at the Recak Memorial on January 15, 2026. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Embassy
The French Ambassador to Kosovo, Olivier Guerot, laid flowers at the memorial, and the French Embassy claimed in a press release that “France continues to fight against impunity everywhere.”
The British Embassy in Kosovo said its deputy ambassador attended the ceremony as well.
“Our deputy ambassador attended this morning’s ceremony to honour the 45 innocent lives lost and stand in solidarity with the victims’ families and their calls for justice.”
William Walker pays homage at the Recak massacre memorial on January 15, 2026. Photo: BIRN
On the morning of January 16, 1999, William Walker, then head of the OSCE Kosovo Verification Mission, was the first international official to publicly alert the world to the crimes committed in Recak village, calling the killings a massacre of civilians.
On January 14, ahead of the 27th anniversary, President Vjosa Osmani highlighted the role of William Walker, describing him as the man who “in Kosovo’s darkest hours spoke and defended the truth.” She added that his voice transformed Kosovo’s pain into a call for justice: “the truth about Recak must never be forgotten.”
The Recak massacre became a defining moment in the lead-up to international intervention in the Kosovo war.
Kosovo Albanians place flowers at the graves of relatives killed in 1999 by Serbian forces in the village of Recak, Kosovo on January 15 2014. Photo: EPA/Valdrin Xhemaj