Retired US diplomat William Walker paid tribute on Wednesday in the Kosovo village of Recak/Racak at the memorial to 44 civilians killed 26 years ago by Serbian forces.

Hundreds of citizens beat the cold to pay homage to the victims, making another return to the village where, in 1999, Walker denounced the mass killing of Kosovo Albanians as a crime against humanity.

The massacre provoked a shift in Western policy towards Kosovo and became a turning point in the conflict. A statue of Walker stands in the village as a sign of gratitude.

Speaking at a commemoration ceremony, Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti said Walker’s statements after the massacre “exposed the brutality Kosovo was facing and changed the international discourse on the Kosovo war”.

“Ambassador Walker’s statements were official denunciations of Serb forces and authorities, which were committing crimes against humanity and war crimes against Albanian civilians in Kosovo,” Kurti said.

Vjosa Osmani, President of Kosovo, called Recak/Racak a “small village with a big history”.

“Recak is not only a tragedy which is linked with this village and its residents. It is evidence of the long-lasting sufferings of our people who demanded and kept fighting for freedom and for the right to exist,” Osmani said.

A day before the anniversary, Walker spoke to an audience in Pristina during the launch of his book, Racak: The Story of a War Crime, in which he recalls his experiences in the Balkans, particularly in Kosovo as the head of OSCE’s Verification Mission, launched in October 1998 to oversee a ceasefire between Serbian forces and the guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army, KLA.

“Almost every Kosovar that I’ve met over the last few years helped me write this book,” Walker said.

“In 2000, when I visited Racak to observe the commemoration, I promised to the villagers that I was going to write a book about my experience and it was going to have a title ‘Racak’, pure and simple. I am ashamed to say it has taken 25 years to keep that promise. Sitting in front of you and you sitting in front of me today, I finally kept the promise,” he added.

Agron Mehmeti, a village representative, said: “Ambassador Walker told the truth even though his life was in danger.

“Each January, Racak residents experience an increased pain and sorrow but the pain and sorrow turns into pride when we meet ambassador Walker,” Mehmeti said. “He informed the world of what was happening in Kosovo,” he added.

Recak/Racak was surrounded and attacked by Serbian security forces on January 15, 1999. They entered the village and raided the houses one by one. Some villagers tried to hide but were discovered, beaten, taken away and shot.

The Serbian authorities insisted the casualties were all fighters from the KLA.

But Walker, chief of the OSCE ceasefire verification mission to Kosovo, who visited the scene the following day, called it a “crime against humanity” and insisted the victims were civilians.

The attack formed part of the Hague Tribunal prosecution’s indictment of Yugoslavia President Slobodan Milosevic, who died in 2006 while in detention. It was also part of the indictment against Serbian army and police generals, but in 2006, the ICTY decided that evidence related to the massacre “should not be presented so as to improve the expeditiousness of the proceedings”.

The European Union Office in Kosovo said on Wednesday that it stands “in solidarity with the families and people of Kosovo to honour and remember the victims of the Recak/Racak massacre, a heinous crime that left an unhealed wound 26 years on”.

The US embassy in Kosovo also commemorated the massacre anniversary, calling it “a tragic turning point for humanity that stirred the world to act”.  “As we honour the victims, we renew our shared commitment to truth, justice, and reconciliation,” it said.

The OSCE Mission in Kosovo also honored the victims of the massacre.
“This anniversary reminds us of our collective responsibility to confront the past in pursuit of a better future,” the Mission said in a statement.

In 2023, Kosovo’s Special Prosecution said it was seeking the arrest of 18 Serb suspects for the massacre. Last month, Pristina Basic Court sentenced Cedomir Aksic to 15 years in prison in absentia over the mistreatment, expulsions and murders of Kosovo Albanian civilians during the attacks on Albanian civilians in Recak/Racak.

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