The President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani, said that she is concerned about the decision of the Constitutional Court of Kosovo regarding the Visoki Decani, which recognized ownership of 24 hectares of land to this monastery. Osmani described it as ‘Milosevic’s decision; and ‘discriminatory’. Visoki Decani soon reacted, saying: „Slobodan Milosevic himself was not involved in the 1997 decision to restore 24 hectares of land to the Decani Monastery.”
Osmani is currently staying in the United States. Last night, she held a speech at the Atlantic Council.
When asked about the Visoki Decani monastery, more specifically, the Kosovo Constitutional Court’s ruling on the land that has yet to be implemented, she initially said that it was not within her purview but rather that of the cadaster service.
„The fact that this issue is Milosevic’s decision worries me. Even UNMIK determined that any decisions or laws from 1989 to 1999 should not be applied due to their discriminatory nature,“ Osmani said.
Despite that, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo decided to confirm it „for some reason“, she added.
Furthermore, the Kosovo president expressed concern that such a decision could create a „dangerous precedent for every one of Milosevic’s decisions that were made in 1999“.
„That would create complete confusion about who owns which property, because as you know, under Milosevic, all decisions were arbitrary,“ Osmani said.
Osmani stated that Kosovo must find a „path forward“ and make sure that the institutions give all guarantees to the Orthodox Church that no one will touch their property.
„There have been no serious incidents in the last 10 years. They are protected by the Kosovo police, and we really appreciate the role of all religions in Kosovo, because diversity is something we are proud of,“ she said.
The Visoki Decani monastery reacted to Osmani’s statement, starting with a series of questions:
If all the court decisions of authorities during the Slobodan Milosevic rule are illegal why are the thousands, perhaps tens of thousands, of court decisions and property contracts in Kosovo made during his government between 1989-1999, which benefited Kosovo Albanians, not equally considered illegal? Why should this discriminatory position apply only to the land of the Dečani Monastery? And, finally, why the Constitutional Court decision on the Monastery land has not been implemented for seven years, with full legal impunity of the local authorities?
They underlined that one must contemplate the legal chaos that would ensue if all these decisions made in Kosovo during Milosevic’s rule between 1989-1999 were to be disputed.
They added that once the Visoki Decani Monastery’s right to 24 hectares of land was confirmed by the Kosovo Constitutional Court ruling, it ceased to be merely a decision from 1997, but became the ruling of the highest court in Kosovo in 2016.
„Furthermore, all international representatives in Kosovo, along with their legal teams which looked into this issue, unanimously agree that the Decani Monastery land Court ruling must be implemented and the be land inscribed in the cadastral records.“
According to the monastery, this position has been reiterated several times in the last seven years by the representatives of the EU, OSCE, Quint ambassadors and many others.
“Nothing has been done and we can regularly read statements of Kosovo officials who deny legality of this Court decision and refuse its implementation, which seriously endangers rights of the Monastery.”
They noted that “Slobodan Milosevic himself was not involved in the 1997 decision to restore 24 hectares of land to the Decani Monastery.”
“This decision, made by the Serbian authorities of that time, was based on the legal right of the Monastery to have at least a portion of the 700 hectares, confiscated by the Communist authorities in 1946, returned to its legal owner. Restitution of the land of religious communities, taken away by Communist authorities in several EU and other countries remains a high legal priority.”
The monastery pointed out that the Supreme and Constitutional courts of Kosovo deliberated on all these issues under full international supervision, allowing all parties to freely present their arguments.
The litigation on several legal levels lasted almost 16 years, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo issued a final and binding “res judicata” decision in 2016, they add.
“Three years later, in 2019, the Constitutional Court of Kosovo sent a letter to the Monastery, following its complaint about the non-implementation of the Court ruling, and fully confirmed that the 2016 decision of the Constitutional Court was obligatory.”
However, they added, the strong determination of the Kosovo government and Decani municipal administration not to implement the 2016 Constitutional Court ruling, and even to declare it illegal, despite all international requests, “contradicts above stated readiness to guarantee the protection of the Serbian Orthodox Church’s property in Kosovo.”
“On the contrary, such behavior towards the Decani Monastery presents a serious discouragement to all those who trust that the legally binding court decisions of the highest court in Kosovo should be implemented, and directly compromises the rule of law in Kosovo.”
They emphasized that this stance significantly discourages Kosovo Serbs and other citizens from freely exercising their rights to protect their property through the Kosovo legal system.
“It negatively influences religious and ethnic relations in Kosovo,” the monastery concluded.
Preuzimanje i objavljivanje tekstova sa portala KoSSev nije dozvoljeno bez navođenja izvora. Hvala na poštovanju etike novinarske profesije.
