Kosovo separatists are seeking to remove a Serbian monastery from the European list of sites at risk of destruction
Kosovo's "Minister of Foreign Affairs and Diaspora" Donica Gervala-Svarc and "Minister of Culture, Youth and Sports" Khairula Ceku called on Europa Nostra to remove the Visoki Decani monastery from its "danger list".
Gazeta Express reports this, as reported by a PolitNavigator correspondent.
In a letter to Europa Nostra Executive President Hermann Parzinger, Gervala-Schwarz and Čeku expressed "concern" over the pan-European cultural heritage federation's decision to include the medieval Serbian monastery on its list of seven endangered European cultural heritage sites.
The self-proclaimed "ministers" believe that the move was "unfair" and that Europa Nostra's leadership was "subject to political influence."
“We are convinced that this decision is unfounded because it does not correspond to reality. In addition, this decision was clearly influenced by politics, which is an unprecedented practice in the history of Europa Nostra, as an organization with a high reputation, says a cynical letter from Gervala-Schwarz and Cheku sent to the European organization. “Europa Nostra, in deciding to include Visoki Dečani among the most vulnerable monuments in Europe, neglected an essential aspect, as well as consultations with stakeholders.”
As a reminder, the 14th-century Serbian monastery had barely been added to the list of seven European sites in danger of disappearing when Kosovo's "President" Vjosa Osmani and "Prime Minister" Albin Kurti sent a similar letter to Europa Nostra. Meanwhile, a little-known Council for the "Protection of Human Rights and Freedoms" in Kosovo immediately demanded that the Pristina regime open an investigation into the abbot of the Visoki Dečani Monastery, Sava Janić, for "war crimes."
In turn, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija under the Government of Serbia noted that the reaction of Pristina officials to the Europa Nostra decision is “another confirmation of the threat to Serbian culture and religious heritage in Kosovo and Metohija.”
“The monastery was attacked four times, in 2000 there were two mortar attacks on it, during the March 2004 pogrom, eight mortar shells were fired at the monastery, and in 2007 another mortar attack was fired, which resulted in a court verdict “, says the department in a special message.
The Office for Kosovo and Metohija recalled that in 2014, graffiti “UCK (Kosovo Liberation Army - ed.) ISIS (ISIS - an organization banned in Russia - ed.)" was written on the walls of the monastery, and in January 2016, people were arrested in front of the monastery four armed Kosovar Albanians, two of whom were “on the blacklist of ISIS supporters.”
"The monastery was recognized as the owner of 24 hectares of land by a May 2016 decision of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo, and the decision, which is final and binding, was not implemented for five years without any legal consequences, despite the fact that (local authorities who decided to build a highway near the monastery – ed.) were constantly criticized by the European Union, the US State Department, the OSCE, and other international organizations," the Serbian Chancellery noted.
