For days now, he has been referred to as an enemy of the state, as anti-Serbian, from much of the Belgrade media and from the highest representatives of Srpska Lista (the Serbian List) – the largest political party of Kosovo Serbs – just like in the years leading up to the war in Kosovo and the bombing of Yugoslavia when Milošević and his party had the same words for Fr. Sava. On the other hand, for years now he has been the target of the Kosovoan media, politicians, officials, and activists, being referred to by them as a nationalist seeking the creation of Greater Serbia, a collaborator with the Milošević regime, and an employee of the Serbian intelligence service. For them, this is who the abbot of Visoki Dečani Monastery, Archimandrite Sava Janjić, is.
In the mid-90s, when warned that a great tragedy was to come, trying to protect both the Serbian and Albanian peoples from war and the Orthodox holy sites of Kosovo and Metohija from destruction, the Western media nicknamed him the “Cybermonk.” He brought not only the Serbian Orthodox Church onto the web scene at a time when not even Serbian governmental institutions and diplomacy had a web presence, but, even more than just his church-oriented website, he created what would be the most extensive witness of the sufferings of the Serbian people in Kosovo after the war, as the editor of www.kosovo.net.
For the new official Serbia, he came under attack at the beginning of August after he warned the public of the danger of a potential planned incident in Northern Kosovo which would then de facto result in an ethnic partitioning of Kosovo, or as the Serbian and Kosovoan presidents prefer to call it now, “ethnic-based border demarcation” or “border correction.” Through the media, he is accused of engaging in “espionage work.”
Previously, Bishop Teodosije had written an appeal against the partition of Kosovo, seeking protection for the Serbian people and its holy sites from a forced exodus and new sufferings. These positions are consistent with the appeal made by the Holy Synod of the Serbian Orthodox Church in May of this year.
For days now, Archimandrite Sava has warned of the dangers of any solution involving a partition, maintaining that such plans are only a realization of the old ideas which Dobrica Ćosić wrote about, backing up his statements from quotes from Ćosić’s 2004 book on Kosovo.
He also maintains that the “combined media and intelligence public smear campaign” was allegedly planned at a meeting of the National Security Council in Belgrade, after which he was accused of “espionage work.”
Here we present a selection of media statements about Abbot Sava of Visoki Dečani.
Srpska lista, in its latest communique: “Sava Janjić has ceased to be a spiritual father”
Srpska lista has made a series of communiques to the public about the abbot of Visoki Dečani Monastery, and in the latest one, from this morning, they claim that Sava Janjić “frenetically comments in public against his own state and its efforts to resolve the problems in Kosovo and Metohija through compromise and dialogue,” and that he “has ceased to be a spiritual father,” and instead has “become a participant in the political sphere and now he just whines and complains because someone dares to criticize and respond to his political positions.”
Srpska lista also states that Sava Janjić “cunningly hides behind his monastic garb, counting on the fact that this would be his best defense before the general public against any differing opinions, all the while claiming that he does not act in his own name or on account of any personal interest, but rather that he is the bearer of some higher truth which no one may dare criticize.”
Đurić does not expect Janjić’s “repentance,” “they have no shame.”
The abbot was also verbally discredited by the Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, Marko Đurić. After accusing him of “acts of espionage,” and following Sava Janjić’s social media posts, Đurić said that he does not expect that “those who, working for the interests of others, will repent today and ask forgiveness of our people in Kosovo and Metohija, for having made public accusations against their own state, that it plotted crimes against its own people,” and spoke of “those who methodically created fear and spread lies in such a time which, for our political and security interests, is so sensitive.”
“I do not expect any such thing, since, anyone who, because of their own wounded pride, money, or someone else’s political interests or directives, remain silent in the face of violence committed by others, but condemn in advance their own state and proclaim Lazar’s curse upon it, such people have no shame,” Đurić publicly commented.
Read also:
PHOTO: Cover pages of Serbian newspapers on the situation in Kosovo
Informer: Sava Janjić often directly worked to help enemies of the Serbian people and support Thaçi’s fake state
The New York Times on Sava Janjic 2003: A Maverick Serbian Priest in Kosovo, Now Mistrusted by All
15 years ago, The New York Times wrote about Sava Janjić:
„When the Rev. Sava Janjić broke ranks with the Serbian Orthodox Church in the 1990’s to condemn Serbia’s crackdown on Kosovo’s Albanian majority, he was denounced by compatriots as a traitor on the pay-roll of the Central Intelligence Agency.
Now, he is accused of spreading the sort of Serbian nationalist propaganda that fueled a decade of Balkan wars. Significant figures among Kosovo’s Albanians suspect him of working for Serbian intelligence.
To international officials, who have run this southern Serbian province since NATO drove out Slobodan Milošević’s forces in 1999, Father Sava is an apologist for the uncooperative nit-picking that characterizes Belgrade’s dealings with them.
But from the priest’s point of view, the only thing that has changed is the receptiveness of the outside world to the message he disseminates from Dečani’s secluded 14th century monastery.”
Read the entire text here.
“The abbot of Visoki Dečani Monastery, Sava Janjić, who currently is presenting himself as one of the last protectors of Serbian interests in Kosovo and Metohija, for the last two decades has often worked to help enemies of the Serbian people and support Thaçi’s fake state,” reported today’s edition of the tabloid publication, Informer, which had published a series of articles about the abbot of Visoki Dečani.
For Sava Janjić, “only NATO, Haradinaj, Thaçi, and Çeku are innocent, since they are his best friends”
The day before, the Informer reported:
“Fr. Sava Janjić’s insolence has no end! As far as he is concerned, only Serbs are guilty for everything, from the outbreak of war in Kosovo to the creation of Greater Albania. For him, only NATO, Ramush Haradinaj, Hashim Thaçi, and Agim Çeku are innocent, since they are obviously best friends with the abbot of Visoki Dečani Monastery! Fr. Sava has now taken his insolence to new extremes! Greater Albania, at least as he claims, was the idea of Dobrica Ćosić.”
Pink: Janjić saluted Çeku and the KSF at Dečani Monastery
“While officials in Belgrade are doing everything they can to resolve the issue of Kosovo, the opposition only continues with its attacks, which are made by certain NGOs, and also the media. Fr. Sava Janjić is again criticizing the State, also attacking Dobrica Ćosić and his idea of border delineation, which the scholar advocated for at a time when Janjić was saluting Agim Çeku and the Kosovo Security Forces in Dečani Monastery,” reported Pink TV yesterday, using sharp language in its national daily news report.
“He worked for the CIA and against the Serbian people”
Earlier in the day, Kurir published an article with the headline, “Shocking! An Interview with John Bosnić, a journalist and Serb from Canada: Sava Janjić worked for the CIA and against the Serbian people.”
Večernje novosti: “Border demarcation and connections to America”
A few days earlier, the renowned Belgrade newspaper, Večernje novosti, published an article about the Archimandrite.
“Known for his secret but firm connections with the Americans, Fr. Sava was already advocating in 1998 for Slobodan Milošević, Ratko Mladić, and Radovan Karadžić to be given over to the Hague Tribunal. This was how he said it in his own words in a conversation with the New York Times a year before the war broke out in Kosovo and Metohija: “I would be quite happy to see Milošević in the Hague. For Mladić and Karadžić to be sent off to the Hague would be only the beginning,” Sava Janjić openly admitted. Such perspectives can do a lot to explain the spiritual father’s current positions with regard to how the Kosovo puzzle should be solved,” Večernje novosti wrote.
What is Priština writing about him?
Sava Janjić was also under the scrutiny of the Kosovo media multiple times. In the latest reports coming out of Kosovo which followed the negative media campaign coming from Belgrade, the Archimandrite is accused of “blessing Arkan” and of showing “the old face of the Serbian Orthodox Church” and of “supporting the Milošević regime.”
New York Times on Sava Janjic in 1998
“An outspoken priest of the Serbian Orthodox Church in Kosovo, the Rev. Sava Janjic, said in an interview that he believes the approach of Richard C. Holbrooke, who has been engaged in increasingly intense negotiations with Mr. Milosevic as NATO steps up its threat of air strikes, is “encouraging the regime.“ “For a good settlement you need all representatives on the Serb side, but Milošević is the only one who is asked,” he said, in the article to which Večernje novosti is referring.
RTK: Janjić “blessed Arkan”
According to information confirmed by international sources, representatives of several embassies will go to Dečani tomorrow to hear the recommendations of Sava Janjić, who once again shows the old face of the Serbian Orthodox Church. RTK acquired a video in which Janjić can be seen, in the center of Priština, giving a blessing to Željko Ražnatović, better known as Arkan, a Serbian criminal who was active in three wars in the former Yugoslavia. It is well known that the Serbian Church has a huge influence on Serbian politics,” RTK wrote, which was then picked up by other Priština media outlets.
A Kosovo government official: Janjić to be proclaimed as a persona non grata
Because of his stance that Kosovo should not be accepted into UNESCO, requests have arrived in Priština that Janjić be proclaimed as a persona non grata in Kosovo.
Të Sheshi: Janjić smuggled machines for milking cows, making candles, detergent, and pigs
The news site Të Sheshi accused the abbot and two other Dečani monks of having participated in smuggling goods from central Serbia into Kosovo. The site, in its own text which was then picked up by others in the Kosovo media, claimed that “Sava Janjić’s workers are dedicated to smuggling,” while he himself is “engaged in work to prevent Kosovo from becoming a member of UNESCO.”
Të Sheshi also presented documents which allegedly “prove” that two monks from Visoki Dečani Monastery “smuggled nine machines for milking cows, along with a large quantity of candles, detergent, and pigs.”
“Criminal”
Also in the headlines in Kosovo media: “Sava Janjić, stop pretending! You’re a criminal!”
Archimandrite Sava Janjić has lived in Visoki Dečani Monastery since 1994. He enjoys a good reputation not only with the Orthodox faithful, but also, due to his education, moderation, and humbleness, he is also widely respected by the international community, including the highest international diplomatic representatives who dealt with the question of Kosovo.
The Monastery of Visoki Dečani has become a not-to-be-missed pilgrimage site, not only for Orthodox Christians, but also is a must-see for those visiting Kosovo from all over the world.
The Monastery is under the protection of UNESCO since 2005, after the war it was subjected to four armed attacks and several attempted terrorist attacks.
Unlike the headlines in the tabloids would lead you to believe, there are many people who have come to Fr. Sava’s defense. Apart from Serbian intellectuals, Orthodox believers, public figures in Serbia and international representatives, one of the most recent articles in defense of Fr. Sava was put out by Fr. Velibor Džomić on behalf of the Metropolitan of Montenegro.
“What a lucky regime, whose greatest enemy is the abbot of Dečani and whose smallest concern is four old Serbian ladies, the nuns of Đakovica! With all due respect, it is quite hard for me to grasp just where we are and what times we are living in when the Office for Kosovo and Metohija is strategically more important than Visoki Dečani, and that the director for the aforementioned Office is more relevant than the abbot of Dečani.”
“It wasn’t so long ago that some of today’s current agitators rushed to take pictures with Bishop Teodosije and with our priests, monks, nuns, and faithful—who are the true heroes of our time—in the Serbian churches and monasteries of Kosovo and Metohija. Whenever they delivered aid to our holy sites and to the Serbian people of Kosovo and Metohija, they could not escape the cameramen that accompanied them. And now, when a word comes from the throne of the abbot of Visoki Dečani, it turns out that the abbot himself is a CIA agent! Or who knows what else! And that he even works for the independence of Kosovo! Well, these things simple cannot be,” wrote Priest Džomić.
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