Even though in principle a decision from the Constitutional Court should be implemented, we should never get anything for granted, the Kosovan Minister of Culture, Hajrulla Ceku, said on Kanal10 last night, commenting on the fact that although six years have passed since the 2016 Kosovo Constitutional Court ruling to return 24 ha of land to the Visoki Decani Monastery, the decision has not been implemented to date.
„We need critical thinking to analyze what is in the decision,“ this minister said when asked about the ruling of the Constitutional Court on the return of the land to Visoki Decani.
During last night’s interview for Kanal10, Ceku once again criticized the Serbian Orthodox Church and the Europa Nostra organization for including the monastery, which has been under UNESCO’s protection for twenty years now, among the 7 most endangered European cultural monuments last year.
Ceku, in addition to the President of Kosovo and the Prime Minister, wrote to Europa Nostra last year, protesting against the decision of this European organization dealing with the protection of cultural heritage to include Visoki Decani on its most endangered list.
“Last year, we had an unprecedented attack by this European NGO, Europa Nostra, who in a paradoxical way declared Decani Monastery to be one of the most endangered sites in Europe (…) It is a fact there are Serbs who work for Europa Nostra, who lobby the Serbian politics in this NGO that is the oldest one in Europe for cultural heritage. It was always known as a very professional organization, but unfortunately they fell for Belgrade politics,” Ceku said last night.
For years now, Quint countries, the EU, and the monastery of Visoki Decani have repeatedly reminded that the decision of the Kosovo Constitutional Court on the return of monastic land has not been implemented. They also frequently call on the Kosovo government to implement the decision of its own Constitutional Court.
This week, the State Department also wrote about this in its annual report on human rights in Kosovo.
Below we publish a part of the transcript of Ceku’s last night’s guest appearance on Kanal10
Kanal10: State Department latest report states a fact which is the Constitutional Court decision about Decani Monastery land has not being implemented since 2016.
Ceku: “There a lot of important issues and I am going to mention few of them. The first one is the destruction of Kosovo’s cultural heritage in the 1998-99 war. There are over 1000 monuments that were destroyed intentionally by Serbian forces as an attack against Albanian identity in Kosovo. There are other issues such is the resistance of Orthodox Church not only not to recognize Kosovo as a state, but they don’t want to contact our Government at all to talk about issues of their concern. It is weird to see the international community doesn’t say a thing about this. Last year, we had an unprecedented attack by this European NGO, Europa Nostra, who in a paradoxical way declared Decani Monastery to be one of the most endangered sites in Europe.”
Kanal10: I believe they mentioned the fact there is a decision about the land which is not given to the Monastery.
Ceku: “If in their methodology they say that property contests constitute a danger, then I agree, but I didn’t see it in any of their points. It is a fact there are Serbs who work for Europa Nostra, who lobby the Serbian politics in this NGO that is the oldest one in Europe for cultural heritage. It was always known as a very professional organization, but unfortunately they fell for Belgrade politics.”
Kanal10: Should the Constitutional Court decision about Decani Monastery land be implemented?
Ceku: “I believe there are a lot of problems on how that interpretation was made at the time. Many people don’t know that court arguments of the other side were not considered, because of a procedural delay. I don’t even understand how Orthodox Church was represented at the Court with their clerics, when they claim to have a representation in another country. There’s also the issue of court decision content, even though in principle when there is a decision from the Constitutional Court it should be implemented, but we should never get anything for granted. We need critical thinking to analyze what is it in the decision.”
Kanal10: You had 6 years to do that. The decision dates back 6 years, in 2016.
Ceku: “Correct, but we can still discuss it. I believe that the clerics of the Serbian Orthodox Church here often paradoxically ask for the Constitutional Court decision to be implemented, of the same Court that derives from the Constitution that says Kosovo is an independent state. They should first tell us do they recognize this Constitution which declares Kosovo as an independent state, then we can talk about the Constitutional Court which is enshrined in this Constitution. I believe the challenges we have with Serbian Orthodox Church should be addressed with an internal dialogue. Weird enough, our Government, Kurti’s Government is the first one with whom they refuse to talk. We never understood why. We asked help from embassies and the international community to serve as mediators to sit together and talk for all their concerns. We cover the cultural heritage, and there is a lot we can do for the Orthodox Church.”
Kanal10: It is Kosovo’s cultural heritage, right? Decani Monastery, other monasteries in Kosovo, you see them as part of Kosovo’s cultural heritage?
Ceku: “This is an issue of international conventions. Monuments that are inside one countries territory are in care of that country. It is not a matter of personal stance, the international conventions are clear. It is our responsibility to protect those monuments, and this is what we are telling them – that we want to sit together and discuss all matters of concern, but it might take some time. They know and we know they have enormous pressure from Belgrade, Serbia. Serbia’s Government stance in Brussels dialogue is that the status of Serbian churches should be reopened. This is totally unacceptable for us. There can be no Ahtisaari plus, or another Ahtisaari.
The status these churches enjoy is the most advanced model of rights for minorities and religious right in world level. I believe that we know we have to sit down and talk to each other. And, if there is one thing that is not being implemented from Ahtisaari plan are our artifacts not being brought back Belgrade museums.”
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
