Ladies and Gentlemen,
I will start by saying that it is difficult to build our future without properly dealing with our past. This is valid for Switzerland as well as for West Balkans countries, including Kosovo.
Based on this ascertainment, Switzerland is supporting many initiatives aiming to this a target. That is why my country supported this documentation centre whose establishment is made possible by the hard work of Humanitarian Law Center in cooperation with Municipality of Pristina.
The content that is showed in this Documentation Center is built on facts that were established by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and it will be presented as such. Dealing with the past includes the right to know.
The center is part of a bigger project, including traveling exhibitions with the same content to Belgrade and Zagreb. With these tools, the population of Kosovo, Serbia, Croatia and later other regional countries will have the chance to learn of the work the ICTY has accomplished, to exchange and to reflect on it in regard to the current narratives influencing our thinking today.
As it usually takes two sides to have an armed conflict, the exhibition and narratives focuses on most serious crimes committed against Kosovo Albanians during the NATO campaign in the spring of 1999, or in events in 1998, but also refers to trials regarding crimes committed by the members of Kosovo Liberation Army against Albanians, Serbs and Roma communities.
The idea is to develop a common understanding of these tragic events in all countries concerned. Of course, this will be difficult. Each people in each country will continue to have its own understanding of these terrible times, but we should try to reach this objective: establish facts, facts, facts,!
In this context, Switzerland is very committed and supportive to Dealing with the Past processes in Kosovo. We supported the “Inter-Ministerial Working Group on Dealing with the Past” until last year. The work and the lessons learned from this process will be very valuable for the future processes, in particular for the new initiative of President Thaçi to establish a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission”.
By realizing that all communities were victims during the conflict, we hope that the society in general can build a higher dose of compassion and readiness to live together, and not only side by side. This will take time, but we owe truth and justice to victims and their relatives, members of these communities.
At the same time, we shouldn’t forget something important: the future. Dealing with the past should not impede us to build a future for us, for our children, for the children of communities of the region.
As conclusion, let me quote a Swiss poet, Jean Villard Gilles : “Rien de durable ne se construit sans amour” meaning you cannot built a lasting future on hate and fear, but it has to be based on love and compassion.
Thank you.
